


The President and First Lady (The Epic)

by Omnessicfaciunt



Series: P.O.T.U.S. [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Political Drama, Slow Burn, The West Wing AU no one knew they needed, West Wing - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-02-09 18:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 61
Words: 80,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12894474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omnessicfaciunt/pseuds/Omnessicfaciunt
Summary: With the end of her first term in sight, President Lena Luthor knows her re-election hinges on public support. But when she falls in love with the journalist writing an exposé on the first family (Kara Danvers), Lena’s supporters question the relationship, and her approval ratings drop. As a rival presidential candidate goes on the attack, Lena must choose between her political career and her love for Kara.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a beautiful, crisp April morning. The sun had just broken over the horizon, the coffee pot had just finished brewing, and Mike had _just_ gotten a call from his boss, Cat Grant, announcing that the building was officially open for the day. It was time for Mike Mo’Neil to perform his most dreaded task of the day: waking the President of the United States.

Mike waited patiently as the phone rang several times before anyone picked up the other line with a nearly inaudible, “…what.”

“Good morning, Madam President. It’s Mike here—”

“What could you possibly want right now?” The woman’s voice was horse and groggy with sleep. Mike would be willing to bet that the President still hadn’t even opened her eyes yet.

“Ma’am, it’s 6:30 and…”

“In the morning?”

Mike tried his best to hold back his chuckle. “Yes, Ma’am. You have a meeting with Mr. Olsen and senior staff followed by the Northwest American Fisheries Foundation.” Mike couldn’t stop his eye roll at the amount of useless things taking up the President’s time.

“Who the hell is this?”

“…Ma’am?” There was nothing but an unhappy groan and some shuffling noise. He seriously doubted that the President had actually sat up in bed. More than likely she had just rolled over and put her head under the pillow. Mike raised his voice a little to compensate for the pillow. “Madam President, I really need for you to dig deep right now. It wasn’t a nightmare. You really are the President.”

There was a muffled groan followed by a gentle “fine.”

“I’ll have the stewards bring up some coffee and oatmeal to your room.” Mike dropped the receiver of the secured phone line back in its cradle and began making preparations for the President’s breakfast and morning meetings.

A half hour later and Mike was walking up to the steward and his tray of untouched food outside the President’s bedroom.

“Bill.” He said half-disappointedly, half-exasperated.

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ve been knocking every few minutes or so, but I don’t hear the shower running either.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Mike said dragging his hand down the side of his face. The President had been up well into the early hours of the morning on a call to Japan and finally gone to bed not three hours earlier.

Mike entered the blacked-out room and flicked on the nearest lamp before walking over to the extra long king-sized bed holding about a dozen pillows and two bodies hidden beneath the fluffy comforter. Having been placed in this position many times in the past three years, Mike knew better than to simply flick all the lights on and throw the comforter off the bed.

He walked slowly to the left side of the bed and used a discarded stuffed animal from the floor—this morning it was a giraffe—to gently prod the pile of blankets until he found something more solid than a pillow.

“Madam President… Madam President, you need to wake up.” He whispered getting as close to the sleeping body as he dared.

After a few more fruitless attempts he simply gave up and called;

“Lena!”

When the President’s left hook came flying out from beneath the covers, he was prepared and grabbed it before she could give him yet another black eye.

“Madam President,” he said, “it’s now seven o’clock. You need to get up.”

“You’ve just committed a federal crime by assaulting the Commander in Chief.” Lena said as she slowly untangled herself from the mass of bedding. “How did you know I wasn’t going to be naked when you came in here?”

“The stuffed animals were a dead giveaway, Ma’am.” Mike went to the closet and pulled out the President’s robe before stopping in the bathroom to turn on the shower. “Senior staff are meeting in the oval office, so I’m going to stand here while you get out of bed, take a shower, and get dressed.”

“How about you let Bill bring in the good stuff while you get the hell out and I won’t fire you?” Lena said as she grabbed the robe from his hands and slipped it on.

“Fair enough, Ma’am,” Mike said heading towards the door. Any excuse to leave the room, even if it was in the form of a thinly veiled threat from a pre-coffee Lena Luthor, was a welcomed escape. As he took his leave, he could hear Lena gently trying to wake her son on the other side of the bed.

“Conner, sweetie,” she whispered, “It’s time to get up and go back to your big boy bed. Mommy has to go to work…”

Mike closed the door behind him and gave the all-clear signal to Bill before heading back to the office. And if he moved the president’s meeting back an extra 15 minutes the world surely wouldn’t collapse—poor Conner deserved as much of a childhood as he could get.


	2. Chapter 2

President Lena Luthor sauntered down the east portico towards the oval office looking completely put-together in a jet black suit skirt and a blood red blouse—quite the opposite of this morning’s wake-up call. If anyone asked, her outfit was chosen, as per usual, by one of the stewards the night before, but every one who worked in the residences knew by the color alone that six-year-old Conner had chosen the President’s attire that morning.

As Lena rounded the final corner she was greeted by her personal secretary, a short yet intimidating looking young woman named Jess.

“Good morning, Madam President,” she said, “Your 10:15 appointment has been moved to the Roosevelt Room.”

“That’s the American Fisheries?” Lena asked while taking the leather portfolio Jess offered her.

“Yes, ma’am, Northwest American Fisheries Foundation. They’re apparently gifting you a 100-pound salmon.”

“Jess, please make a note that, from now on, I shall not be accepting any more gifts of any kind.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jess went to scratch the note onto her pad, but stopped when Lena caught her arm.

“I was kidding, Jess.” She said with a smile. “But please have someone available to hold and carry the thing after they give it to me.”

Jess let out a quiet chuckle. “Don’t feel up to lifting a 100-pound salmon today?”

Jess and Lena shared a laugh as they entered the oval office after being greeted by the secret service agents stationed by the door.

“Good morning, Richard.” Lena said as she passed.

“Good morning, Ma’am,” he responded and murmured, “Atlas in the Oval with Phoenix,” into his wrist.

“Oh,” Jess paused as she left for her own office, “and Mr. Olsen asked to have a moment with you before senior staff this morning.”

“Is he upset about the speech last night?”

“He did seem a tad concerned, ma’am.”

“Well,” said Lena as she lounged on one of the two couches, “it wouldn’t be a Monday morning unless Jimmy was concerned about something I did over the weekend.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Jess said as she left the office.

Lena truly made herself comfortable, crossing her legs and laying her arm across the back of the sofa as she picked up a memo from the portfolio to look over. James Olsen was just a couple years older than her, but the communications director loved throwing his seniority in her face any chance he got. Lena supposed it didn’t help that they had graduated with their bachelor’s in the same year together. Although they had become good friends along the way, James really did enjoy ruffling her feathers by playing the age card. And Lena didn’t mind that much considering she always called him ‘Jimmy’—a nickname he hated—whenever it was to her advantage.

This morning it appeared James hadn’t even bothered to hide the fact that he had slept in his office. He barged in through the hall door with his shirt completely un-tucked and wrinkled with his tie loose around his neck. Lena wondered if the man had gotten more than two consecutive hours of sleep since they had started her first presidential campaign.

“You skipped the whole paragraph!”

“And Monday morning it is,” Lena sighed. “Would you care for some more coffee, Mr. Olsen?”

“I don’t drink coffee.”

“Could’ve fooled me, Jimmy.”

“Don’t call me that,” James huffed and sat on the edge of the couch opposite the President. “ ‘Americans can no longer afford to pretend that they live in a great society’…and then nothing. You dumped the whole crime section!”

“We’re seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, and yet we still seem to be leading the world in defense spending and number of incarcerated citizens per capita. Is that what you wanted me to tell the American public?”

“But that was the kickass section.”

“Ahh, yes, let me think,” Lena began quoting, “ ‘We had 32,000 gun deaths last year. Great Britain, France, Germany, and Switzerland—amongst other hoity-toity European nations—‘had 112 gun deaths combined.’ And then the bit about; are Americans are more homicidal by nature or do you think it’s because those guys have stricter gun control laws? Something along those lines?”

“It doesn’t really matter now because you cut it.” James said.

“Yes,” Lens put her memo down and turned to look him in the eye, “and it doesn’t really matter _not_ because I cut it, but because your argument was invalidated when you handpicked the countries used to make your point.”

“With all due respect, Madam President, it’s a speech. It’s supposed to be inspiring and rhythmic and—”

“Completely full of shit? In that case, you nailed it.”

“Lena—”

“And here I thought what with being the President and all…”

“I know, I know,” said James, hanging his head in his hands; “you get the final say on the White House’s message.” James briefly wondered if having a President with a genius level IQ was truly a positive or negative.

“The press is going to need an explanation,” he continued.

Lena let out a bark of laughter, “For what exactly?”

“Well, now there’s this thing hanging out there.”

“A thing.” Lena raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yes. ‘America’s no longer a great society’ then nothing. No explanation. No context,” He said. “So now there’s this thing.”

“And it’s just hanging out there?” Lena tried to put her most serious face on.

“Yes!” James exclaimed and threw his hands in the air.

“Buongiorno, Signora Presidente.” A petite woman with sun-kissed bronze skin walked into the oval office from Jess’ door.

“Margherita, tu bellissimo fiore!” Lena said as she got up to hug her press secretary. “Com’è stato il tuo viaggio?”

“Okay, what the hell,” she said, tossing her own portfolio onto the coffee table before sitting next to the President. “I literally spend two weeks in Rome and _you_ know more Italian than I do!”

“Conner decided that since _he_ couldn’t go to Italy with you, he was going to bring Italy to the White House. We’ve been consuming nothing but Italian movies, TV, and radio for the past 14 days.”

“How was the ancient city, Maggie?” James asked.

“I didn’t truly appreciate it until I heard that America was no longer a great society,” Maggie turned to Lena who had buried her nose in yet another overnight memo. “What exactly was that about?”

“With you out of the country, it wasn’t a great society, but now that you’re back…”

“She had moral reservations about the handgun section.” James lamented.

“I did,” said Lena, “and now there’s apparently a thing hanging out there.” She got up and walked over to the desk.

“I don’t know about a ‘thing’ per say, but there’s certainly a press room full of people wondering what you meant to say.” Maggie said.

“See!” exclaimed James.

“Did you see this letter from the Daily Planet?” Lena asked a blonde woman who had just walked into the room.

“It would appear to be a letter from the entire fourth estate, Madam President.” The blonde responded.

The blonde was none other than Cat Grant, the President’s Chief of Staff and her most closely trusted advisor. The woman had basically raised Lena, built an entire media empire by her forties, and had honestly gotten bored by the time she asked Lena to run for President.

She wasn’t the shortest in the room, but only just and that never seemed to matter since everyone, including Lena, felt awed by her commanding presence. Where as Cat could simply walk into a room like she owned the place, Lena had to be in full Presidential mode to get the same effect. The difference being that Lena downplayed her power dynamic any little chance she got while Cat magnified hers.

“These people are completely out of control, much like my senior staff.” Lena said with a small chuckle.

“I think they’re just frustrated by their own insignificance, Madame President.” Cat responded.

Maggie leaned over to snatch a copy of the letter from James’ stack of memo and files. “Are they trying to stalk the President or something?”

“I’ll agree to the shadowing,” Lena said, “but I draw the line at any journalist talking to Conner.”

Cat waved James to scoot over as she sat beside him on the couch. “Ma’am, I’m on the phone with these people twice a week at the very least. I honestly don’t know what they want at this point. It seems to change every time the wind blows.”

“What they want is an exposé on the presidential family,” said James.

Cat let out a hearty laugh, “They must be delusional. We gave them a ton of access during the campaign.”

“Yes, but that was nearly four years ago and the people want more,” James retorted. “And when was the last time we got some good, old-fashioned press like this? I think we should go for it.”

“James, we have a minority in the House, I’m worried we won’t get HR 250 out of committee as it is.” Lena said. “If we try to push this through with brute force and fail, there will be a very loud thud when we hit the ground.”

James was almost placated until Cat uttered the one phrase he absolutely couldn’t stand, “And it’s an election year.”

Lena decided to take control of the room before James flew off the handle. The thing about James is that he was the best speechwriter any candidate could ask for. He led many lesser politicians to great victories due to his way with words, and Lena couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to have him on her communications staff. But James absolutely hated running for office because it took up valuable time that could’ve been spent actually helping people.

“Talk to the Daily Planet again, Cat. Tell them I’ll personally interview their best journalist for the job and make my decision then. But one mention of Conner at all and I’ll remove their spleen with a spork—and you know I can do it because I’m crafty.”

The silence in the room lingered uncomfortably and Lena decided to take pity on her poor staff; they were so overworked that they couldn’t find the humor in things anymore.

“That was a joke—sometimes my Luthor genes just shine through. I trust you’ll craft my message well?”

“Yes, Madam President.” Cat answered as she started making notes on her iPad.

“Jess!” Lena called in the direction of her secretary’s office, “Can you have someone find Mr. Schott and drag him into my office?”

There was a loud crash from Jess’ office and they could just barely make out the secretary’s angry mumbling as Mr. Winn Schott came barreling into the Oval office with his glasses askew and a bruse already forming on his cheek. He pulled the armchair closer to the group and took a seat.

“I’m sorry, Madam President,” he said, “Jess keeps moving that damn filing cabinet in her office.”

Everyone had to smother a laugh as Maggie said, “That cabinet has been in the exact same place for the past three years, Winn.”

Winn Schott was the White House Pollster and while clumsy, he was one of the most likeable numbers whiz that could make nearly anyone sit through an impromptu lecture on polling data. He was one of the major lynchpins that led to Lena being elected president.

“Sorry, guys.” Winn took some time to get his massive stack of papers organized. “Good morning, Madam President.”

“Are you alright?” Lena asked.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He said and glanced around at the faces looking in his direction. “Oh! Right, well, okay. First, I wanted to say congratulations. Three years ago, we were elected by the smallest margin in history, and today 63 percent of voters think we’re doing an okay job.”

Senior staff gave a round of applause as Lena smiled shyly and ducked her head.

“Yes, thank you, but the poll also tells us what we already know: if we don’t get this crime bill through Congress these numbers are going to be a memory.”

“So,” interjected Cat, “stating today, we’re shifting it into high gear.”

Maggie perked up at the prospect of regaining her notorious sharp bite in the briefing room. She wasn’t soft now per say, but they had spent a majority of their time after the first 100 days simply running the country and ensuring the trains all got to their stations on time. After leaving her high-stakes law career behind to work for President Luthor she was excited to get back into the political arena.

“Can I tell the early-risers in the briefing room that gun control—”

“Crime control, Maggie,” Winn interrupted, passing her a flashcard. “People think the phrase ‘gun control’ means we’re soft on crime. How they managed to come to that conclusion, I’ll never know.”

“Hang on a minute,” James said with a look of concern, “are we not putting back the handgun restrictions?”

The room was silent for a beat until Cat decided to incur James’ wrath. “We’re leaving them out.”

“Ma’am, we campaigned on this issue.” James turned to Lena to plead his case. “I understand we removed the amendment when our job approval rating was in the low forties, but we can push it through now.”

“After the election, James.” Cat said.

“Lena, we may never have another opportunity like this again. Let’s take this 63 percent out for a spin and see what it can do!” James implored.

“We can’t take it out for a spin, James,” Cat said, clearly losing her patience, “we need it to get re-elected.”

“And,” Winn threw caution to the wind and spoke up, “for reasons passing understanding, people do not seem to relate guns to gun-related crimes.”

Lena and James exchanged a few silent looks on the matter before she turned to Maggie and said, “You can brief the press about it this afternoon. As of today, the crime bill is priority one on my domestic agenda.”

“You got it, Ma’am.” Maggie said.

“Winn, I want detailed projections for all target districts by the end of the week. James, you’re going to run the show on the hill.”

“Can I just say, to return to the subject for one moment,” James said, “that it might be easier to fight a war on drugs if we weren’t arming the drug dealers.”

“Noted and filed, James, but we need to pick our battles.” Cat responded.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Winn shuffled through his files and pulled out a descent-sized stack for James. “Last nose count has us 18 votes short by the State of the Union in 30 days.”

“Jesus, Winn, can’t you just send this to me in a computer file?” James asked.

“No, actually. They won’t allow me to move this sort of information digitally—they even made me get an air-gapped computer.”

“18 votes in 30 days, everyone.” Lena announced. When she rose from her place on the couch, the senior staff rose with her. “Thanks for the meeting.”

She walked confidently to her secretary’s office with a chorus of ‘thank you’ from senior staff and stepped into the relatively small office with a “Jess, what’s next?”

It’s hard to believe the leader of the free world would be waiting patiently for her next directions in front of a secretary’s desk like a child at the principal’s office, but, then again, it’s hard to believe Lena Luthor would have ever been elected President.


	3. Chapter 3

_Roughly Four Years Ago…_

Governor Lena Luthor sat bored out of her mind listening to the finale of the worst tourism slogan her staff had ever pitched.

“Metropolis” said the over-eager intern, “More than you expected!”

Lena would’ve thrown her glass of wine at him had he not looked barely over the age of 15. Instead, she simply drained what remained of her second glass that evening.

“Allen, Metropolis has the largest research and manufacturing plants in the country—all of which spend more than 30 percent of their budget on research and development,” Lena began. “Not to mention we house three of the world’s largest media conglomerates.”

“T-That’s, um, the point, Sir—I mean, Ma’am!” Lena’s only reaction was a pointedly lifted brow. “Governor, people think of our capital as just a city for big business and industry; like a Silicon Valley version of National City, but without all the quaint little restaurants and shops. Tourism used to be our third largest revenue-earner, but now it’s barely holding on to its place in the top five.”

Lena went to pour herself another glass of wine as the kid continued spouting off revenue facts and figures that would cause a Nobel laureate running for cover. She really needed to have a word with her chief of staff about the placement of these interns. Allen clearly had a mind for finances, but here he was trying to be the new assistant manager of tourism and revenue.

“Allen, how is a slogan going to help?” She asked.

“Um… actually, I’m not—”

“Okay. Allen, where do you go to school?”

“I’m a sophomore at Metropolis University, Ma’am.”

“And you’re a political science major?” Lena walked over to the small desk in the corner of the room and began scribbling a note.

“Yes. I’m also double majoring in engineering.”

“Allen, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I’m firing you.” Lena walked back over to the poor kid and handed him the note. “You shouldn’t be interning here, you should be working in the finance department at L-Corp—preferably in the charitable donations division if you’re that dedicated to public service. Go over there tomorrow morning and give the secretary this note and she’ll get you all set up.”

“But, Ma’am—I-I’m not even maj—I haven’t taken any—” Allen barely managed to get out a coherent thought before Lena put him out of his misery.”

“You’ll just have to trust me on this. Major in business with a minor in engineering—you’ll make it a major with a post-bach program through Lex’s company, but don’t worry about the extra year or two because we’ll pick up the tab. Just make sure you bring Jess—that’s the secretary you’ll want to talk to—make sure you bring her a cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon before noon. Do you have all that?”

Allen managed to nod his head and mutter something before fleeing the office. Lena smiled and reached for her phone to text her brother and Jess about their incoming hire.

“Mike!” She shouted to the room at large. A tall, well-dressed hipster sort of man entered the office.

“I really wish you wouldn’t shout, Ma’am. Poor Allen was just pulling himself together before you terrified him with that outburst.”

“Lex is coming over for family dinner tonight, can you put our usual orders in to Patsy’s Diner and let them know we’re coming?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Mike said. “Also, there’s someone named Cat Grant to see you. She’s been waiting in my office and she looks awfully similar to that reporter lady, but security let her up so that can’t possibly be her.”

“Cat’s here?” After Mike’s nod Lena rushed out of the room to greet her lifetime friend and mentor.

“Cat Grant, as I live and breathe!” She ignored her mentor’s pout and enveloped the shorter woman in a hug.

“Hello, dear,” said Cat, “please desist with the theatrics. I’ve already had to deal with far too many people today.”

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you running CatCo?”

Lena and Cat made their way back into the small conference room. Cat, of course, immediately sat at the head of the table and made herself right at home. Lena poured her a glass of wine and made her way back to the table.

“I came to talk to you.”

“I hate to break it to you, but there is this amazing new invention called the telephone. I hear they can even go mobile nowadays.”

“Does it frustrate you to constantly aim for humor and yet miss so dramatically, dear?”

“It’s the effort that counts.”

Lena and Cat sat silently for a moment enjoying their wine and the view of Metropolis at sunset from the large wall of windows.

“What did you want to talk to me about that couldn’t be done over the phone?”

Cat took a long sip from her glass before saying, “I’ve been thinking about getting into politics.”

“I think that’s a great, Cat, and I think it’s about time. You’re probably thinking of the house, but you should aim higher like a senate seat.”

“Oh, I’m aiming high. I’m thinking about the White House.”

Cat got up and walked to the window. Lena remained shocked in her seat; wine glass paused halfway to her lips.

“Cat, there’s no one I’d rather see in the Oval than you. You’re practically my mother for crying out loud. But if you run there’s going to be a lot of talk about your media connections. You’ve never tried to hide your disdain for numerous politicians across all parties. I mean… all those clips are going to come back out. They’ll eviscerate you.”

Cat nearly snorted into her wine glass. “No shit. Only, I wasn’t talking about running for president _myself_.”

“Who then?”

“I’ve been walking around CatCo in a sort of foggy daze for the past three weeks. And everywhere I go, especially now that the candidates to be are coming out of the woodwork, I’ve been having this thing floating around my head. A bolded headline that’s distracting me from everything else.”

Cat had been pacing the room, but found herself at the same little desk Lena used earlier to write a note by the end of her speech. Lena thought back to Allen and realized that she was also about to be schooled by a mentor. Cat returned to her seat at the conference table and slid the note in front of the young governor. Lena took a moment to meet Cat’s eyes before she hesitantly took the note and unfolded it to read what Cat had written.

‘Lena Luthor: The Hero America Deserves’


	4. Chapter 4

It’s a sunny and bright Monday morning when Kara Danvers finally arrives at The Daily Planet for shift. Not that there are really shifts when you’ve got a salary job, and that’s what she is now; a salaried employee with benefits and everything! But even without the little swipe cards and the colored calendars, the workday seemed to be standardized with an unspoken “in by seven” rule.

Kara exits the elevator at the 40th floor and begins distributing her tray of coffee amongst the other journalists in her bullpen. Journalists. Kara was officially a journalist—with four articles even! Okay, so only two of them were the sort of world-wide phenomenon that she can’t seem to replicate, but the point is that she’s here and working on becoming the best. She migrated back to her desk and logged on to see what her boss had assigned her for today.

There was no easy way to sugarcoat it, but Kara always got the puff pieces and inevitably scrapped stories. She didn’t mind, after all, she was the newest reporter here and clearly had some big shoes to fill. She managed to get some traction with her online blog during the campaign, but now Kara was left treading water in a field she had no professional training in and living across the country from her hometown.

Kara took another look at her blank assignments column before mentally preparing herself to go talk to her boss: Snapper Carr.

It’s not that Kara was afraid of him per se… but he never seemed to be particularly happy when she was around. She tried as much as humanly possible to avoid her boss at all times. Today she watched helplessly as two supernovas collided within Mr. Carr’s office. Rhea Gand, the chief White House correspondent was pacing around his office like a caged animal and Snapper himself looked poised to attack at any moment. Kara tried her best to ignore the angry shouting coming through the panes of glass. She couldn’t quite decipher what they were saying, but she didn’t necessarily want to find out either.

The top email in her inbox ruined those thoughts and prayers in an instant. “ _6:50 AM: Come see me now. –Carr”_ No explanation or hints, just a summons to the principal’s office like a small child. Kara gathered as much courage as she could find and braced for impact as she slipped unnoticed into Snapper’s office.

“The President’s pissed as hell, Snapper. That letter was a stupid idea!” Rhea was pacing and gesticulating wildly. Kara had never seen her like this. Normally she was always so cold and poised during her interviews.

“It was an aggressive move, and we’re sticking by it.” Snapper grumbled.

“This isn’t the little girl who needed Cat’s media empire to get elected anymore. She’s incredibly popular and she’s going to sweep the field come re-election. I honestly can’t picture anyone running against her with serious intentions. I cannot _believe_ you were so stupid.”

“It’s not just me, Rhea,” Snapper said, “It’s all the major networks and print companies. They’re getting a wall of silence from the President and the tabloids—who quite literally make this shit up—are eating into our bottom line in massive quantities. People aren’t even visiting the front-page stories on our sites. They’re searching directly for Lena and Conner Luthor.”

“You _know_ how she feels about the press and her family. I’ve known good journalists who were transferred to Yemen because they had the gall to even ask about her son…” Rhea was clearly about to start another tirade, but stopped when she noticed Kara doing her best impression of a potted plant at the back of the room.

“Who the hell are you?” She asked.

“I’m—”

“This is Kara,” Snapper cut in, “She’s going to be shadowing you today at the White House.

“Excuse me?” Rhea objected.

“She’s new and needs to find where she fits best.” Snapper opened a folder and started taking notes. The conversation was over and everyone in the room knew it, but Rhea just couldn’t let it die.

“I don’t need some blogger following me around all day,” she said. Kara couldn’t really take offense since she _did_ get her big break after publishing her articles on a free blog platform. It’s not her fault that both articles went viral, it _was_ an election year after all and people will hang onto anything they think is important.

“She’s not a blogger anymore, she’s one of us now and today I want her at the White House.” This surprised Kara, but her endless optimism wouldn’t let her down!

“We’re playing hardball with Lena Luthor, and I need a heavy bat,” Snapper said.

“This girl doesn’t know the first thing about White House reporting!”

“She’s the only reporter who publicly burned the Luthor family in effigy and survived not only the backlash, but seemed to get a promotion out of the whole thing. I need her there for window dressing so they know we’re serious” Snapper said with finality.

Kara felt that slap in the face more than she should have—so much for endless optimism.


	5. Chapter 5

President Lena Luthor had ben through one hell of a day. If it wasn’t the House of Representatives throwing a hissy fit over the language in the newest bill, or the Senate deciding to pass on a vote to continue debating the amendments, it was certainly the press corps asking about the ‘great society’ quote, or her son legitimately biting his school tutor.

She was just working with James on the State of the Union draft when Jess came into the Oval office.

“Madam President,” Jess began, “Samantha from accounting has come down with the stomach flu and won’t be able to attend the state dinner Friday night.”

Lena ran her hand down the side of her face in exasperation. She was one of the few U.S. Presidents who were elected without a husband or wife and she definitely didn’t need the extra stress. To solve the ‘problem’ her staff had suggested picking her dates to each event by going through the White House employee roster, but Lena couldn’t help but feel that was a little petty. These people already put in a full week’s work—and often times more—to support the country, and now she was asking them to sacrifice a free Friday night?

“I’m sorry to hear she’s not feeling well,” Lena said, “Can you please ask the kitchen to send over some food for her and her husband?”

“Extra freezer meals, too?” Jess asked and Lena nodded.

“Are you going stag then?” James asked.

“I’d assume so considering everyone else is already going or has other plans.” Lena packed up her portfolio and handed James one of the State of the Union drafts.

“You know you can just ask anyone in the building,” James said with a slight chuckle, “They won’t say no.”

“That is precisely why I’m not going to ask.” Lena spat out her patience wearing thin after the long day. She headed to the door that led to Jess’ office.

“Don’t you think we’ve milked the ‘lonely single mother’ act enough?”

Lena stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned to look at James’ shocked and appalled face.

“Oh my god… Lena, I-I’m so sorry,” He barely managed to stumble over his words, “That was incredibly rude. I should not have said that. Lena, I—”

Lena decided to take pity on the poor guy, he did have just as long of a day after all.

“James, please stop. I understand it was just a mistake,” she said, “please don’t beat yourself up over this. And for heaven’s sake don’t pout.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” James took his leave through the Chief of Staff’s office looking every bit like a wounded animal.

Lena hated her staff tip-toeing around the subject all the time, but she really couldn’t fault them for it. After their crazy first year of subpoena’s and House Censures it was a miracle in and of itself that their approval ratings were even above the mid-twenties.

“Jess, what time is it?” Lena asked as she entered her secretaries’ office.

“5:45, Ma’am,” she responded and began giving the president a run down of her schedule. “You have a meeting with the Secretary of Defense and the joint chiefs in the situation room. You’re done after that.”

“Thank you, Jess. Make sure you get home before a crisis starts”

“Sure thing, Ma’am.”

“You know, someday I’ll actually be serious about firing you for overworking.”

“Yes, Madam President. Someday is a wonderful point in time,” Jess said as she continued typing away at her computer.

“Good night, Jess!”

Lena made her way to the situation room in the basement of the west wing. She stopped periodically to greet her staff and check in on a few projects here and there, but despite all her procrastinating she was left staring at the situation room door sooner than she would have liked.

“You should probably go in there.” A voice behind her said.

“Lex, you know I hate it in there.” Lena tilted her head to look back at Lex while he walked up to stand by her side.

He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and said, “You are an accomplished woman, Lena. I’ve seen you command a room full of prime ministers and presidents, hell, I’ve seen you tell the Pope to get his feet off your coffee table.”

“Yeah, but most of that was the effect of a backless dress.” Lena joked.

“I’m sure it didn’t hurt, but we both know that’s complete bullshit.”

“Why is it every time I sit with the joint chiefs, I feel like I’m the little girl who spilled her milk at the dinner table.” Lena took a deep breath and straightened her jacket a bit.

“Let them get to know you, sis,” Lex said as he straightened his tie. “You don’t always have to go in there with your battle armor on. You’re not comfortable with violence, that’s fine, let them see that. These men are serious by nature and they’ve been staring down the barrel of a gun for so long they often forget that compassion isn’t a weakness.”

“Lex…”

“In the meantime, you outrank them so you can tell them to suck it.” Lena couldn’t help but laugh at Lex’s pep talk. Together they gathered their wits and finally entered the situation room.

There was a chorus of “Good evening, Madam President” as the joint chiefs all stood up to greet the Luthor siblings. After the necessary introductions and background information they were able to get to the meat of the matter.

“The hardware has been in place for over a month now with no issues,” said the Defense Secretary. “Taiwan has a base and troops ready to be trained by our personnel. We’re planning to send twenty-five instructors from the Army Air Defense School to train them and five additional officers to remain on the base for the following year.”

“How soon can they be deployed?” Lex asked.

“We can airlift them in the morning. They’ll have…”

They kept talking, going over every nuanced point and procedure that could possibly come up, but all the while Lena couldn’t take her eyes off of the screen at the top of the room. It showed rotating feeds from GPS, live known troop locations, predicted force movement, and even weather and ocean currents for the Taiwanese Straight. There was something she was missing, something that wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Are there any security concerns with China?” She interrupted to ask the room.

“Na, Ma’am,” said the Senior Security Advisor Jethro. He was an older man with close-cropped hair and a suit that was clearly tailored when he was younger and had more muscle mass. Lena always liked him the best, but perhaps that was simply because he looked like her late father. “If anyone wanted to hit it, they would’ve done it by now.”

“And China hasn’t said anything?” she continued.

“No, Ma’am.”

“All right, then let’s do it.” Lena rose from her seat and watched as the entire room stood with her. “Send the troops to Taiwan. Thank you, everyone.”

Lena slowly made her way back to the residences, but there was something nagging at the back of her mind—like and itch she couldn’t quite reach. She was missing something, she was sure of it. She hadn’t felt this uncertain since her first year in office.


	6. Chapter 6

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

President Lena Luthor, the first single female president to be elected and the first single mother to be elected, sat outside the Oval office on the portico warming her hands on a cup of coffee. It had to have been three in the morning, but here she sat, staring at nothing in particular as the angry voices of the White House staff filtered through the large bay windows.

She could see Winn looking panicked and clutching his phone in his hand like a lifeline to the outside world where everything made sense just moments ago. There was James’s thundering voice that made Lena’s bones shake from its raw and unfiltered rage. Mike looked like he was about to throttle the Secretary of State with his bare hands; Maggie was literally holding him back, but only just. And Jess… poor Jess was standing silently in the corner disparately trying to keep herself together. Even from her place outside, Lena could see the red-rimmed eyes and knew she was trying not to cry.

Cat Grant exited the Oval without being noticed amongst the various shouting matches taking place between the White House staff, joint chiefs, and White House counsel. She came to sit next to Lena on her bench and looked up to gaze at the stars.

“Beautiful night for stargazing, don’t you think?”

“Cat, what are you doing out here?” Lena asked.

“You know… just came out to look at the stars and feel human again.”

Lena picked up the simple envelope she had received earlier that day and rose from the bench. Cat could see her shoulders square, her back get just a little bit straighter, and when she finished the end of her coffee Cat saw a new type of determination in her eyes.

“Cat, I want you to call my brother down here and wake up a federal judge.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“You’re not going to talk me out of this?”

Cat hesitated for a moment, then said, “I think it’s the right call.”

“I’m going to get some more coffee.” Lena said and walked along the portico to the secretary’s entrance and disappeared into the depths of the White House.

Cat waited a few moments before returning to the chaos of the Oval office, but when she did everyone looked to her for direction before being unceremoniously kicked out of the room. When only the closest members of senior staff remained, she began to set the wheel in motion.

“Mike, I need you to tell the staff secretary’s office that I’m going to freeze all nonessential paper for executive signature; all non-essential executive orders, correspondence, and legislation. Do you understand?”

“Until when?” he asked and picked up his tablet to make some notes.

“Until further notice. I need you to get a federal judge here right away—whoever answers the phone first.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and quickly ducked into Jess’ office.

“Why are we doing that?” James asked. He had calmed considerably after the Cabinet members were kicked out of the room, but Cat could tell he was still simmering beneath the surface.

“It’s just one in a series of steps I’m taking to reduce the power of the Oval Office.”

“Cat, wh—?” Maggie had been pacing along the back wall, but now she moved to the center and took her usual seat on the couch.

Cat took one last look around the room, checking to make sure everyone was paying attention and not drafting their next shouting match in their head. “She’s invoking the 25th amendment.”

“Really?” asked James.

“Yes, are any of you actually surprised by that?”

“Are we surprised that the President is temporarily handing over her title to a rather pugnacious and assertive Vice President because the government she heads has decided her child is an object now and not a person? I think it’s a fairly stunning act of patriotism and yeah, I am a little surprised.”

“Yeah, surprised she’s not throwing the weight of the White House at these assholes.” James said as he landed heavily on the couch next to Maggie.

“Yeah, well there’s something to be said about the grace in falling down.” Cat moved to her usual armchair and everyone else moved to sit in their usual seats as well.

“What does it matter?” asked Maggie.

“It’s the only thing that matters,” Jess said with a quiet voice from the back of the room, “when the fall is all that’s left.”

The room was dreadfully silent for a moment or two before James spoke up.

“I mean, Jesus… I’m also not sure it will do any good. If someone was hurting Connor we’d all drop an atom bomb on Metropolis to get them to stop.”

“And we’ve only known him for three years,” said Maggie.

“There’s already been riots in Metropolis,” Cat announced, “I didn’t say anything earlier because the President was in the rom, but the streets of Metropolis are full of people. I’ve seen some of the news feeds; the people are sitting in the streets with candles.”

They remained there, staring at the floor in silence until they heard footsteps announcing the arrival of some familiar faces.

“Relax everyone,” Lex Luthor said, “Let’s get to work. Jess?”

“Yes, Mister Vice President?”

“Here,” Lex said as he passed over a package of tissues. “He’s fine, Jess. I just saw him and he’s a little confused and wondering what happened, but he’s fine.”

Jess had slowly been losing her mask as Lex continued talking, but by the end of it she had completely lost her composure.

“They just came in and took him away.”

“I know,” Lex reached out to give her a hug and Jess nearly collapsed in his arms.

The poor girl had practically raised Conner alongside his mother. Alex may have been there to watch over him, but she was the one watched him after school every day, she had her office mini-fridge packed with his favorite snacks, she made sure Lena was able to spend as much time as possible with her son. They were putting together a jigsaw puzzle when the social workers came in and dragged Conner out of the residences.

“Lex,” Cat rose from her seat to get back to work, “we’ll do some sort of press conference with you and Lena as soon as this is over.”

“Speak of the devil,” said Lex as Lena walked into the room looking every bit the leader of the free world.

“If I find out anyone has been unnecessarily killed at the end of your presidency, so help me, Lex, I won’t bother to shoot you. I’ll tear you apart with my bare hands.” Lena leaned back against the front of the Resolute desk and crossed her arms as if daring anyone in the room to call her out for threatening to murder her brother.

Mike walked in followed closely by a disheveled woman with salt and pepper hair, she had managed to get her pants and a polo shirt on before the Secret Service agents put her in the car. She was still wearing her house moccasins.

“Madam President, Justice Sharon Day.”

Lex stepped up to Lena and in a low voice whispered, “Everyone in this room would rather die than let you down, you know.”

Lena nodded and turned back to the room after picking up a document folder from her desk.

“Here’s the first of the two letters, Justice Day.”

“Once you sign it with a witness, Madam President, I’ll swear in the Vice President.”

Lena scribbled her name at the bottom of the page and Cat signed as a witness.

“You’re relieved, Madam President.” Lex said and pulled his sister into a brief hug. “Now go bring Conner home,” he whispered so no one else could hear.

“Swear him in, Madam Justice.” She said

Lena turned and walked out of the Oval Office with her head held high and her face etched like stone. There was no doubt in Cat’s mind that more than a few people at social services were going to be dusting off their resumes that night. The sound of the judge’s voice brought her back to the room.

“Vice President, please place your right hand over your heart and raise your left hand. Repeat after me…”


	7. Chapter 7

Lena packed up her portfolio in the Oval office and walked by the chief of staff’s door to knock. There was something off about Taiwan’s new military base, but she had completely forgotten to drop by and talk to Cat about the Daily Planet like she asked that morning. When no one answered the knock she peeked her head through the door.

“Cat?”

Cat was sitting at her desk resting her head on her arm as she marked through Maggie’s morning statements for tomorrow.

“I’m sorry, Madam President,” she said picking her head up and adjusting her glasses, “I didn’t even hear you knock.”

“That’s alright. I was just heading back to the residences if you waned to walk with me?”

“That sounds lovely.” She said and took her glasses off to pinch the bridge of her nose. Cat made to pack a bag of work for home, but must’ve thought better of it at the last moment because she ended up throwing her bag on the side chair.

“Let’s get out of this stupid office.”

Lena laughed as they made their way back through the oval office.

“Those are my thoughts every single night. So did you get a chance to talk to any of the Daily Planet journalists today?”

“A few, there’s one reporter that’s been assigned here as White House correspondent for the past six years, but she didn’t want the job.”

“Oh? And why’s that?” asked Lena.

They slowed their walk and sat on a bench beneath the portico so they could watch the end of the sunset.

“She’s… experienced. She knows when to bow out of a job offer while saving face.” Cat said, choosing her words carefully.

“She doesn’t want to retire when I leave office, does she?”

“No, Ma’am. And she’s one of the friendly ones so I wouldn’t mind her becoming a career correspondent.”

Cat paused for a moment while she was lost in thought before continuing.

“There was another woman following her around the offices today like a puppy, but I never got her name. She looked a little familiar.”

“They always have the new reporters shadow the more experienced ones, that’s nothing new.”

“I’ll try to narrow down the field of candidates for tomorrow.” Cat said, “Hopefully we can have a journalist write this soon so we can get all this behind us.”

“You don’t share James’ optimism on the free press this will brig us.”

“Lena Luthor you of all people know there’s nothing in this life that’s free.”

They sat together in silence watching the last rays of the sun sunk below the horizon and the floodlights surrounding the building turn on. Cat stood up to continue her walk to the employee garage when Lena stopped her.

“Cat, James said something today…”

“Oh, yes, he came crying to me about that.”

“I know he was only joking, but for the state dinner on Friday.” Lena was letting the nervousness and frustration over the Taiwan situation color her thoughts and cloud her judgment. “Is it really all right if I just go alone or will that ruin your news cycle?”

“I think you know the answer to that,” she said while fixing her with the Cat Grant patented look of ‘are you shitting me?’

“Well, obviously you can spin anything, but would it be easier if—”

“Yeah, I’m just going to cut you off there, dear. It’s always easiest for me when you’re being yourself instead of trying to be the President.”

Cat walked off after that leaving Lena alone on the bench trying to see the stars through the cloudy blue sky and the wash of floodlights. She stood up and continued her walk to the residences. There was always one person who could instantly brighten her day no matter how bad it was.

-           -           -

Lena walked the hallway towards her son’s room and already knew this was going to be a rather long night of tinkering for the both of them. Jess had come over earlier to help watch him after his tutors left for the day and they had been quite busy turning his playroom into a physics lab. She stopped by the open doorway to watch her son try and explain basic physics to her closest friend.

“And then the ball will roll into the next one and that’ll set off the dominos. Oh no, wait! Aunty Jess, we almost forgot to reset the rubber bands.”

“I’ll work on the rubber bands. You should fix the bouncy balls.”

“Please tell me this Rube Goldberg project started _after_ bath time.” Lena said from he place by the doorway.

“Mommy!” Conner shouted and sprinted towards her to launch an attack hug.

“Of course, Ma’am.” Jess smiled. “How else would we have come up with such a great idea?”

“Jess says the best thinking happens in the shower.” Conner informed his mother. “But baths are pretty good, too.”

“I should say, this looks amazing! You guys are quite the team.”

“Cap and Bucky!” Conner yelled with a fist pump.

“Rock on, little Iceman.” Jess said as she made her way to the door. Conner crossed his arms and fixed Jess with his most fearsome ‘Luthor’ stare.

“ _You’re_ Iceman because you’re Captain America.”

Lena tried her best to suppress the chuckle that threatened to burst out of her at the look on Jess’ face.

“But,” Jess managed to get out, “you’re the hero and I’m the side kick. That makes you Cap.”

“Now you did it, Jess.” Lena couldn’t help but gang up with her son against her best friend. “He’s always Bucky.”

“ _I’m_ the experiment, Jess, I get to be Bucky. You can’t steal him because you weren’t in a tube.” Both Jess and Lena exchanged knowing glances before focusing back in on Conner’s mini-rant. He already sounded surprisingly like Lena when she decided to enchant an audience.

“You protect America because you and Mommy are all like  _pah_ and _po-wow_ —and then the bad guys are all, ‘Ahh, save me, I’m not worthy, I did the bad!’” Conner lived up to his namesake by truly performing this little skit complete with battle noises, character voices, and a full-on death scene.

“Okay, but if I’m Captain America, what’s left for your mom?”

Conner cocked his head to the side and looked at Jess like she was an idiot who grew up under a rock and said, with the straightest face imaginable; “She’s Wonder Woman, duh.”

Jess nearly broke a rib in the explosive laughter that filled the room. Lena was barely standing; all thanks the unyielding doorframe. Poor Conner just looked at the two ‘adults’ in the room as if they were toys that had broke and needed to be fixed.

“And on that lovey note, I’m going to bed. Good night, you two.” Jess said and made her way to the staircase that led down towards the opposite side of the building. The mother-son team picked up the playroom as much as possible before Conner started to fall asleep on his feet. Lena could never understand how her son was able to keep his mind moving a thousand feet per second while his body forced him to shut down for the night.

He was only six years old, but was already mastering third grade mathematics and physics. His reading wasn’t much behind that and he was constantly asking to be taken to the library after school. She was worried about him in the first few years when private tutors refused to advance him further due to his young age, but they finally found a balance between work and play. The main problem was Conner thought schoolwork _was_ playtime. It certainly helped having Jess around to watch him because she didn’t see him as a prodigy or a marvel, but simply Conner.

Lena was just tucking him into bed when his brain woke him up a little.

“No, Mommy, I liked the Rude Goalie game. Can we play some more?”

“Rube Goldberg, sweetie and we can’t because it’s bed time,” Lena said with a small chuckle, “You can barely hold your head up.”

Conner shifted a little to get comfortable holding his stuffed Hulk.

“Did I make you sad?”

“Why do you ask? I think I was laughing all night.”

“I said I was an experiment and Jess looked at you funny.”

Lena sat down on the edge of Conner’s ‘big boy’ bed and played with his hair a little. It was silky smooth and jet black just like hers.

“You didn’t make me sad. Do you like calling yourself an experiment?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh? And why is that?”

“I’m special like Bucky, or Stitch, or Spiderman, or Hulk, or—” he let out a giant yawn “—maybe I’m a super hero.”

“I think Jess is sad because other people might think it’s a bad thing.”

“They’re just jelly, Mommy.” He laughed a little at Jess’ slang he had picked up.

“Perhaps,” Lena paused a bit to choose her next words carefully, “Do that make _you_ sad?”

Conner scrunched up his forehead as if he were trying to force his brain to spit out the answer.

“I don’t mind. I’m just like every one else, but sometimes Jason thinks I’m better than people.”

“Why does he think that?” Jason was a third grader who volunteered to be Conner’s buddy at school. Conner only went to school for maybe two or three hours a day, but Jason helped the other kids see Conner as more of an equal despite his young age. Jason was also one of the few students who knew about Conner’s… unique birth and genetics.

“Because I can do the math in my head.”

Lena felt the wave of relief wash over her. She was always worried that someday her little boy would turn into her power-hungry mother, Lillian, but thus far nurture seemed to be kicking nature’s ass.

“As long as you’re happy and safe, I don’t really care what you call yourself.” She placed a kiss on his forehead and slowly rose from the bed, “but I’ve always been fond of the name ‘Conner.’”

“Moooommyyy.” Conner groaned and rolled over to hide under the covers. “Go to sleep, you’re silly.”


	8. Chapter 8

Kara couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the amazing sunrise as she walked along the street towards the White House security gate. It was her second day shadowing Rhea Gand and she was _not_ going to let her spirit be broken by this assignment. Sure she was only there to intimidate the White House staff and, yes, it might’ve been a moot point because no one actually knew it was her, but that wasn’t going to change anything. She was a reporter for crying out loud and she was going to prove herself!

This was her moment. There must be something she could write about today that would make Snapper happy. Maybe a story on how to take backhanded complements? No, that’s too magazine-ish. It didn’t matter though because the sun was shining, the sky was a crystal clear blue, she was wearing her favorite yellow sundress, and she was going to make sure someone remembered her today! She was going to make sure Rhea knew that Kara Danvers wasn’t a push-over! She was going to—!

Twist her ankle at the security gate and fall on her face apparently. Thank god she decided on flats instead of heels or she really would’ve ruined all of her careful planning.

“Please don’ kill yourself before we even make it into work today.” Rhea said without bothering to turn around or help.

Kara stepped up the guard right behind Rhea. Now’s the perfect time to restart her day and make a good impression.

“Hi,” she said with a smile, “I’m Kara Danvers.”

“He needs your license, Kara.”

“Oh, sorry! Here you go.” Kara handed over her entire wallet in her haste, “I’m from National City, out in California.”

“He’s literally looking at your license.”

“Sorry,” Kara said as her face colored slightly from embarrassment, “This is only my second day here and I thought that, well, seeing as I was so quiet yesterday that, maybe, I should speak up more, you know, and talk to people so they might remember me. I’m still new to reporting on this level.” She gave an awkward chuckle as the security guard handed back her wallet and prepared the press badge. “I guess you could say that I’m more of a minor league writer, but I should start stepping up to the plate, right? Sorry for all the baseball lingo. My sister played softball and I—”

“Kara, he sees over 300 people on the morning shift alone. He doesn’t care about you or your sister and I doubt he’ll remember your name.”

“Sure I will,” the security guard said, “Not many people take the time to chat with us.”

He gave Kara a soft smile to reassure her, but Rhea was already stalking off towards the White House.

“Kara Danvers, right?”

“Uh, yes, Sir.” She answered.

“You’ll do just fine today.”

“Thank you!” Kara gave the man one last beaming smile before scurrying to catch up with Rhea. Today was going to be a good day she could just feel it.

-           -           -

Lena was having a much better day than yesterday. She had woken up to a little troublemaker pushing her to the absolute farthest edge of the king size bed, but she couldn’t really complain. There was something oddly comforting about Conner trying to burrow into her ribcage despite the pain it caused when he kicked out in his sleep. How did birth mothers manage to house a kicking monster _inside_ them? The President was in the middle of an education meeting, but she had spaced out eons ago because it was getting stupidly ridiculous.

“We are _not_ talking school vouchers!” yelled Nate.

“Public education in this country has been on the decline since 1965—”

“Thomas, you can’t just—” Nate tried to interject, but all in vain.

“—Four trillion dollars and nothing to show for it but failing students in every measurable standard of performance.”

“I agree with Thomas here, and that’s not even taking into account the health and safety concerns.” Eleanor chimed in without actually proving Thomas’ point, but she wanted to talk about health and safety so why not now.

“The idea that letting poor public school students choose private alternatives would destroy public education is simply contrary to experience!” Ahh, and now Chris just had to get his licks in too. “You three went to private schools. And then there’s also Boston Latin, which is the primer _public_ school in New England!”

“They’re not all Boston Latin and Bronx Science, Jeb, and you know that.” Said Tom.

Apparently Tom was ready, willing, and able to stand on a mountain and die to abolish those private school vouchers. Which, to be fair to Thomas, is all well and good, but Lena was hungry and in desperate need of a snack before her next meeting or she might just let the claws come out.

“Thomas, you’re not wrong, but we have bigger fish to fry,” announced Lena who definitely needed to stop talking about food. “Education is everything, but you guys are putting me to sleep with this circular logic. We don’t need little changes like vouchers and funding, we need gigantic monumental changes. Schools should be palaces and the competition for the best teachers should be deadly. We need to start funding education like we used to fund national defense; incredibly expensive for the government and absolutely free for the kids. I want the air force to hold a bake sale to afford their next jet, do you understand me?”

“Yes, Madam President.” They chorused.

The President sighed heavily and stood up from her chair while every person in the room followed suit.

“That’s my position, I just don’t know how to execute it yet. Tom, get off the damn mountain and find me some bill I can pass that will actually do some good—not just another funding amendment.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Eleanor, you need to take your grievances to the states because it’s their own damn fault if they’re not funding building and management projects for public education first and foremost. Let’s find a way to make them hurt until they get their house in order.”

“Yes, Madam President.”

“And Jeb, for the last time, if you’re not going to work on fixing the problem stop defending it.”

“Sorry, Ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

“It will, but you’re lucky because I like how you get people fired up.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

Lena walked swiftly out of the Roosevelt room and quickly made her way back to Jess’ desk outside the oval office. Mike walked by and passed her a sandwich wrap and drink on his way out of the offices.

“You are a god send, Mike.” Lena said as she held the wrap like it was her last meal on earth.

“Yeah, you just like me because I’m your quinoa dealer.”

“Someone has to be,” said Jess.

“How are we doing?” Lena asked and began to unwrap and plough into her lunch.

“If this is considered lunch then you’re running ten minutes ahead of schedule.”

“Ahead? That’s got to be a new record for us,” said Lena between mouthfuls.

“You’d think so, but our over-under time is still pretty abysmal,” said Jess.

Lena pulled up a chair to rest her feet and enjoy her lunch for the next three minutes at least. Jess actually paused in her calculations and endless typing to look at the President sitting in her chair like a kid at the principal’s office.

“You know you’re a little scary when you haven’t had breakfast.”

Lena swallowed and said, “I wanted sleep more than food this morning, as with every other morning.”

“You know, if you’re going to have a reporter following you around for a few weeks you should really get into the habit of spending more time in the oval and less time out here or in meetings.”

“I’ll burn that bridge when I get there.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

They spend the remainder of Lena’s rushed lunch in a companionable silence before Jess had to chase Lena away for her next meeting.

“Cat wanted me to remind you about a meeting in the mural room.”

Lena stood up and dusted off the nonexistent crumbs from her navy blue dress. Six meetings before lunch and only about a million more to go; and if she was going to drop in unannounced on the Test Ban Treaty, she needed to have her game face on.


	9. Chapter 9

“So Snapper was okay with this?” Kara asked from behind Rhea. They were walking through the west wing towards the mural room to sit in on a bipartisan meeting for deep background on a new Test Ban Treaty.

“He thinks it’s a great idea.” Rhea said sarcastically, “Why not have the puppy sit in on a very important meeting, oh, and have her meet Cat Grant while we’re at it?”

“I’m meeting _the_ Cat Grant?” All color drained from her face and she could’ve sworn her heart missed a beat or two.

“Yes, Kara, do you know many other Cat Grants?”

“Well, no, but Cat is the Chief of Staff. And you’ve been a reporter here forever, but I’m barely a reporter as it is—

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

“It’s just that…” Kara paused to maneuver around some interns loitering in the hallway, “well, I haven’t really written anything.”

“No shit, sweetheart.” Just as they rounded the final corner, Rhea called out, “Cat!”

Cat Grant, the little general as the press corps called her, walked over, but was clearly not in a mood to be trifled with. Kara remembered her pep talk from this morning and took a calming breath. She just had to make a good impression and not mess anything up…or fall down. Yeah, falling down was definitely the most likely scenario.

“I am not a pet, nor will I be summoned like one.”

“You can’t have your staff drop their notes on our desks at 9:15 and expect us to have reasonable questions ready for Maggie’s brief at 9:30.”

“But I do make up for it with perks like this special meeting from the depths of hell,” said Cat. “Who is this?”

“This is Kara Danvers; I believe you know her work on the blog sites. She’s scared of meeting you, so be nice.”

Why, oh why, did Rhea have to bring up the blog sites? Before Kara had the chance of speaking up for herself or even softening that particular blow, Cat was already off to the races.

“You’re the silly little girl who wrote those columns.” Kara nodded, unable to find her voice. “You’re an idiot who doesn’t use facts.”

“Now wait a minute, Cat,” Rhea broke in. In that moment Kara couldn’t believe what she had heard. Was Rhea actually defending her?

“She’s not an idiot,” she continued, “The stories had facts, they were just horribly mashed together—nothing that a college level writing class couldn’t fix. I’ve seen some of her new stuff and it’s better, so,” she took a deep breath like she was trying to force the words out by sheer force of will, “as much as it pains me to say it, let’s speak of her with some respect and tolerance. At least to her face.”

Kara wasn’t sure if she should be happy that Rhea had defended her or upset that the woman stripped her of a hard-earned college education. Perhaps a good first impression wasn’t a total loss.

“I believe,” Cat said, “as long as Miss Danvers is intolerant toward President Luthor and her family, the government, White House staffers, and a correct interpretation of facts in general, I shall remain intolerant towards her.”

“Good enough for me.”

Yeah, that good first impression was surely blown to bits.

The mural room was surprisingly dark compared to the halls and press briefing room, but Kara supposed it was fitting considering this was where most of the bipartisan bills were discussed. There were some couches set opposite one another in the center of the room, but Rhea led her to a back desk so they would be mostly out of sight.

The active participants walked in and Kara began to take rather detailed notes. She needed something to write about when this week of window dressing was over and she wasn’t leaving empty handed. Cat Grant took the only armchair that served as middle ground between the two parties. Clearly she was only there to mediate the discussion and try to keep tempers from firing.

Two deputy chiefs of staff from congress came in next, Kara heard Isaac and Jason, but it was clear that Isaac was going to be doing most of the talking. Poor Jason was there to keep the numbers high and cause strife if nothing else. The next participant shocked her so entirely that she dropped her notebook and pen on the floor completely ruining Rhea’s attempt at discretion.

Clark Kent, the Senator of California, walked into the Mural room like he owned the place and nodded to Kara with a small smile as he took is seat on the couch opposite Isaac and Jason. He had always been larger than life to Kara, but even at 50 he looked ready to take the field as the NCU’s star linebacker.

After the first thirty minutes, Kara gave up trying to take any notes at all. An hour into the meeting she started doodling in her notepad simply to stay awake. Clark didn’t seem to understand tat he was getting nowhere fast, but he kept pushing his luck.

 **“** This is my fifth—”

“Senator, the answer will always be no,” said Jason.

“This is my fifth meeting in a row and it’s my last before I have to go back to California and tell them _why_ Washington isn’t moving on this. Now what’s it going to take for your boss to loosen his grip?”

“Clark, perhaps—”

Clark turned to Cat to plead his case from yet another angle. “If Bishop moves on this he can free up eight, maybe even ten votes. He gives political cover to those who are too green to risk anything even remotely controversial.”

“Why should his endorsement matter? He’s a private citizen now.”

“We’ll go past the fact that it’s the right thing to do.”

“This is not a holy thing,” Isaac said, “You guys act like if you’re against the Test Ban Treaty then you’re out for blood or something. Senate Republicans aren’t the only ones against this.”

“Who else?” asked Clark.

“The voters, what the hell did you—”

“82% of voters _want_ the Test Ban Treaty!” Clark cried in desperation.

“Not in our state.”

“Does your state population match the missing 18% percent?”

“We have polling to prove that our constituents don’t want it.”

“82% of _all_ voters, Joe. To say nothing of the five past Secretaries of Defense, six former CIA directors, the head of the NSA, 31 Nobel Laureates. Then there are the 150 nations who have already ratified a similar bill including Russia, Israel, Great Britain, and Japan. For crying out loud, I just listed four countries that almost never agree on anything, and they passed their bill with overwhelming popular support.”

Clark put his face in his hands briefly to calm himself down and gain some composure.

“That’s great news, and you should call us as soon as you can get North Korea, Pakistan, and China on board.”

Jason finally decided to step up and give his fair share of punches. “It’s not a safer world if those guys are making significant technological improvements while the President’s handing out commemorative pens.”

“We’ve said all this before, Senator.” Isaac said.

“Right,” said Clark, “so I’ll ask you this: is there no room for movement? If we consider attaching reservations, is there any wiggle room?” 

“You wasted a trip, Senator Kent.” Said Jason as he stood to leave the meeting.

“I’ve wasted them before,” said Clark as he watched the two men leave, “I’m sure I’ll waste more of them in the future.”

He took his time packing up the paperwork he brought to attempt to sway their minds and threw his jacket back on. Kara always thought he looked very…All-American in his deep blue suit and trademark red tie. She was never very close with him in her early years, but they had almost cut all ties to each other after her parents died.

“Kara I was surprised to see you here.”

Kara was rocked out of her thoughts by Clark’s voice.

“Hey, Clark. Uh, long time, no see.” She was so proud of herself for managing a smile.

“I’ll say. What are you doing here? Weren’t you a fairly vocal opponent of the President before she got elected?”

Kara knew this was going to end in a train wreck. While she herself wasn’t the biggest fan of the Luthor’s, she couldn’t hold a candle to Clark’s disdain for the President and her brother. “Um…yup. Yes, that was me all right.”

It was around this time that Rhea and Cat wrapped up their own conversation and turned their attention to the other conversation in the room.

“I guess even the brightest of stars can be corrupted by the lure of power. How’s it feel being on the Luthor family payroll?”

Kara took a deep breath and reminded herself why she never talked to Clark unless absolutely necessary, or when Eliza threatened to withhold dessert at thanksgiving dinner until she called her cousin to wish him a happy holidays. Not that she really minded in those instances because she always got double helpings for gritting her teeth and getting through the phone call.

“Actually,” she said, “it’s President Luthor, and I’m on the Daily Planet’s payroll.”

“Yeah, okay.” He made to leave, but Kara decided to pull a card from his playbook and push her luck. It was _her_ day after all and she had promised to do something bold this morning on her way to the office.

“And another thing. I think you don’t really care about the Test Ban Treaty, but I only say this because Eliza hasn’t mentioned anything about it in your numerous TV ads. I think you just want to beat the White House.”

Clark was slower to turn around and face her than Kara would’ve liked, but she had a point to make and a mentor to prove wrong so she was going for it, darn it!

“Kara, we should leave the Senator alone now and get back—” Rhea said.

“You think the Test Ban Treaty is something we should let die?” He asked and took a few steps towards her.

Kara almost lost her resolve staring at the larger than life frame of her cousin, but she regrouped.

“I’m saying that President Luthor, despite her many flaws, has actually passed more aggressive nuclear test bans than you’ve ever supported. Where the hell do you think those 150 countries got the language for their bills from?”

“I can’t believe I’m listening to you defend that monster!” He exclaimed.

Rhea stepped up to try and end the budding confrontation before Cat decided to rescind their press credentials. “Sir, Ms. Danvers has been thrown into the deep end here on her first week at the White House—”

“I’m not defending her!” cried Kara, “Well, kinda, but not her _personally_.”

It was around this time that Cat and Rhea lost all blood flow to their faces and literally took a step back from Kara. Maybe she went too far by shouting at an honest-to-god senator in the White House no less, but at the end of the day he was still the man who abandoned her just to save his precious political career.

Little did Kara know that the reason Cat and Rhea were freaking out was because the President herself had just walked silently into the room the open door behind the young reporter.

“I think she should’ve been impeached after her first year and I cannot stand that she let my sister be led like a lamb to the slaughter—and then Alex does nothing but _defend_ her? She should’ve been out and the house censure was nothing but a slap on the wrist. She’s doing moderately acceptable work now, but it’s only a matter of time before someone like you pushes her over the edge and she turns into the power hungry CEO or trigger happy Commander like the rest of them!”

Lena chose that moment to make her presence known.

“Cat, I think we’re going to have to reschedule that covert beheading in the rose garden tonight. They clearly know too much already.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Good morning, Madam President,” said Cat, “How’s your morning been thus far?”

“Couldn’t be better.” Lena said.

Kara turned in the direction of the President, but remained frozen and incapable of rational coherent thought. Mortified. That was the one word that came to Kara’s mind. If she were capable of speech she’d probably be praying for something very heavy to fall from the sky or a black hole in the ground to swallow her right then and there.

“I apologize for the interruption,” Lena continued all smiles, “but Ms. Grant asked me to stop by and say hello. I guess I missed the boring policy portion of the meeting, huh?”

Lena looked to Kara at the end of her little introduction clearly indicating that she needed to say something, but Kara was finding it difficult to breathe, let alone speak.

“Madam President, I-I’m so sorry…for my outburst, and to a Senator, and those things I said. I-I don’t know what to say… I’m speechless.”

“All evidence to the contrary.” Lena said with a sly smile and her signature raised brow.

Rhea was talking and trying to diffuse the situation, but Kara was barely hearing her. She just gaped like a fish out of water at the President. She suddenly understood why so many people were infatuated with her; the photos didn’t do justice to those piercing green eyes and she had an aura about her that could make Clark look like a schoolboy. It was amazing how even Cat Grant looked smaller by comparison.

“Madam President,” said Rhea, “we haven’t met. I’m Rhea Gand, I work in the press corps. I hope this episode in no way—”

“I’ve heard many good things from Cat about you, Ms. Gand,” Lena said while reaching out a hand, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine, Ma’am.”

“I head you turned us down on the job offer.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Rhea averted her gaze and looked to Cat for support. “I felt that it required a more nuanced touch that I am not qualified to provide. I merely report the facts, Ma’am, there’s no chance for embellishment where my writing is concerned.”

“Well, I hope you’ll stick with us to the bitter end anyway, Ms. Gand.” Lena turned her undivided attention back to Kara briefly before looking to Clark with a somewhat less than welcoming look in her eye.

“And how can I be of assistance today, Senator Kent?” she asked.

“The Test Ban Treaty, Ma’am. Bishop spent four years of his life on this and I believe he could sway a great many hearts and minds in the Senate.”

“He spent longer than that,” Cat chimed in, “and it burned him in the end. He lost his seat in congress.”

“Yes, he lost his seat to a militant fear-mongering elitist of a woman.”

“Those words sound awfully familiar, Mr. Kent,” Lena said, “perhaps you should invest in a thesaurus and return with something new to say. I set up this meeting specifically because you asked, now what’s your pitch?”

“This treaty isn’t bad and you know that. It _can_ happen. Not only that, but Bishop can stick it to every North Carolina voter who put him out of a job and take Michelle’s knees out before she has a chance to put her pencils in the jar.”

Lena snorted in laughter saying, “She’s been in office for months already.”

“Madam President, Senator Kent does have a point,” Cat said, “Bishop only lost the seat by 12 votes, and Senator Michelle Frazier didn’t attend any meetings of the Senate unless required by your authority for the first two months. She knows she doesn’t have control of her state and she’s hurting badly after most of her constituents flocked to her more moderate companion.”

“I don’t think I can help you, Mr. Kent.” Lena said with a sigh. “In the end it’s Bishop’s call. While I’d love for this treaty to be passed, it’s not my decision to make.”

“With all due respect, you could tell your people to back off, Madam President.”

“I could, but they were elected just like you and I.” Lena was clearly done with this conversation. “Safe travels, Mr. Kent.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

And with that Kent was out of the door in the most polite way someone could storm out of a room after being dismissed by the leader of the free world. Kara turned to look back at the President only to find herself under the careful gaze of those green gems.

“Cat,” the President asked without taking her eyes off of her, “is this the puppy you were telling me about?”

“Wait, what?” That certainly snapped Kara out of any spell she may—or may _not_ have been under. This is the real world, after all and Kara was definitely _not_ going to be distracted again.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Cat answered.

“I am no a puppy.” Kara said to no one in particular. Maybe if she just avoided her eyes?

“All right,” Lena said leaning in to meet Kara’s blank gaze, “Who are you then?”

“K-Kara.” She managed to say. “Kara Danvers.”

“Well, Kara, do you have a free moment?”

“Yes?”

Lena turned towards the door with a tilt of her head for Kara to follow and they walked into the hallway and began their walk to lord knows where. They had been walking in silence for two turns before Kara realized they were suddenly in the chief of staff’s office—Cat’s office.

“I thought we might have a word in private.” Lena finally said. “Someplace that’s a little less intimidating.”

“And you choose the chief of staff’s office?”

“It was this or the oval.”

Kara stood there uncomfortably clutching her notepad and fiddling her pen, just waiting for the President to say something—to shout, throw her out of the building, hand her over to the secret service, anything at all, really.

“Madam President…” she had to break the silence.

“Is it okay if I call you Kara?”

“Of course, Ma’am—”

“Cat mentioned you were new to the White House,” Lena sat against the edge of Cat’s desk. “How are you liking it?”

“It was going fine until about ten minutes ago.” Kara took a deep breath and decided to just get this over with and hope to any and all gods out there that she would be spared a gruesome public reprimand. “Madam President, what you heard in there was nothing more than vanity run amok. I was trying to show the Senator that not everyone will fall into line and, honestly, I was showing off to a colleague who doesn’t think much of me.”

Lena’s face hadn’t changed through her entire speech. It was as if she was trying to figure Kara out and Kara definitely didn’t welcome the attention.

“It would be a real shame for you to punish the Daily Plant on account of my actions today. I’m deeply sorry for saying those things at the White House, Ma’am. It was entirely unprofessional.”

“Hold on a moment,” Lena stood back up to her full height to look Kara in the eye, “are you under the impressions that I’m mad at you?”

Kara nodded and looked down at her scuffed shoes.

“Seldom does a day go by that I’m not labeled as a hypocrite, party traitor, bitch, horrible mother, or—my personal favorite—tyrant.”

“With all due respect, Ma’am, I doubt many people say those things about you at the White House.”

Lena chuckled and moved to sit at Cat’s desk. “I’ll grant you that, Kara. The White House does have the single greatest home court advantage in the modern world.”

Kara was already fairly confused and off balance, but she had no idea why the President was going through Cat’s drawers like she was searching for something.

“Yes, Ma’am, I learned that the hard way.”

Lena apparently found what she was looking for because she emerged from under the desk with a quick ‘ah ha!’ and walked back to Kara.

Chocolate kisses. Kara had just witnessed the most powerful woman in the world raid her colleagues secret candy stash. All right, Danvers, time to get back on a level playing field.

“Ma’am, I may be a little intimidated by my surroundings, and, yes, I might've gotten off to the worst possible start, but I truly meant what I said back there. I’m sure you know that I was the reporter who ran the articles about Lex and your blatant lies to the American public, but I’m here for my job and it’s a job I’d like to do well.”

“How do you know Clark so well?”

“Excuse me?”

“Senator Clark Kent. You seem to know him well enough,” Lena mused, “Although, to be fair, you had never met me before you went off like that.”

“He’s my biological cousin.”

“That’s rather specific.” Lena said with a tilt of her head.

“I only specify, Ma’am, because I was adopted by the Danvers when I was thirteen. I barely knew him when I was younger and now we rarely speak.”

“Differences of opinion?”

“You could say that.” Kara said and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “If you don’t mind me asking, why am I here?”

“Well, I’d assume if you’re _that_ Kara Danvers your boss sent you here to try and intimidate us.”

“That’s correct, but I meant why am I _here_ , in this room.”

“Oh,” Lena swallowed her most recent chocolate kiss, “I just wanted to talk more and you seemed incapable of speech in the Mural room. Well, that and I wanted some chocolate.”

“I see.”

Kara looked at the President and her relaxed posture, leaning back against the desk like they were colleagues chatting on a company smoke break. She wasn’t nearly as intimidating now as she had been in front of an audience. She could see the faint coloring of dark circles under her eyes where her makeup had rubbed off during the day and her dark hair was slowly spilling out of its tightly wound bun. She didn’t look like the commander in chief that the general public saw at the rallies and the press conferences; she seemed…human.

“Shall I go then?”

“Sure thing.” Lena said and plopped another kiss in her mouth. Kara turned towards the nearest door, but was stopped by a soft hand on her arm. “Not that door.”

“What?”

“That’s the oval office, so if you go out through that door you might be tackled by Richard.”

"Richard?"

"The Secret Service agent assigned to the Oval Office today."

“Oh, okay.” She tried to make her feet move, she really did, but all Kara could think about was Lena’s reassuring smile and soft hands guiding her towards the proper exit. Somehow she found herself standing in the hallway again and when she turned back all she saw was the closing of a door as the President disappeared into the Oval office.


	11. Chapter 11

That night the President and Maggie were playing chess after putting Conner to bed. Maggie might not have been the best at chess, but she tried to learn for Lena who needed a distraction when talking about anything remotely related to feelings of the heart. And Maggie had the added advantage of sharing Lena’s tastes in many aspects.

“The Old Guard know we’re making a move on gun control—I’m sorry, ‘crime control.’” Maggie said.

“Don’t let Winn hear you say gun control,” Lena joked, “he’s likely to lose his mind and breakdown the latest polling data for you.”

“God, do I know it. I had Linda tape a flashcard to the podium the reads ‘crime control’ in sharpie.”

“Should I think about calling a meeting with them?”

“The Old Guard?” Maggie clarified. “Nah, I’d let Lex take a pass at them first.”

“Fine. Check.” Lena took a break from staring at the board to drink her wine. Maggie took her time moving her king out of the line of fire before speaking again.

“Also, the Daily Planet called.”

“Yeah?” Lena made to move her queen.

“They wanted to apologize one more time for Kara’s outburst.”

At the mention of Kara Danvers’ name Lena dropped her queen and knocked over at least three other pieces before managing to get herself back under control.

“Just a hair too excited about that news, Madam President?” Maggie had no qualms about poking fun at Lena’s weakness for smart and pugnacious women.

“Did she say anything about me?”

“Well, it was her boss who called. Suiter? Supper…? Something odd like that. What happened that required multiple apologies from the press?” Maggie asked with a knowing look in her eye. It certainly wasn’t helping the President’s case for discretion when she refused to look in Maggie’s general direction.

“Nothing happened,” Lena tried, but she soon continued her explanation when Maggie let out a snort of laughter. “Okay, she sort of went off on Senator Kent, but in doing so she also said a lot of negative things about me. Apparently they’re distantly related so it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Okay, and…?”

“And what?” Lena said. “We had a nice chat together. I had some chocolate, she didn’t back down from what she said and then she left.”

Both Lena and Maggie gave up trying to finish their game of chess and instead took a moment to subtly stare down the other over the rims of their wine glasses.

“Look,” Maggie started, setting down her glass and resting her elbows on her knees, “I understand that talking about feelings isn’t your strong suit, and I’ll go along with the stupid chess game, but you’ve got to tell me something.”

Lena took a deep breath and sat up straight again. “Tell me this: hypothetically, what would happen if I called Kara and asked her to be my date for the State Dinner Friday night?”

“Jesus. Lena, are you shitting me right now?”

“Never mind,” Lena said and she picked up a lost pawn to roll around in her hand.

“No, hear me out. I think maybe you should ask her, but I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into.” Maggie reached a hand out to grasp Lena’s. “It is an election year, much to James’ chagrin, so the press will be all over this, but maybe you should do it anyway.”

“It was a stupid suggestion, Maggie, please forget it.” Lena’s words seemed sincere, but Maggie could tell that her heart wasn’t in it when her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Wilson was widowed during his first term,” Maggie said, “He met a woman, courted her, dated her, married her, and also managed to form a League of Nations.”

“The League of Nations was toothless and non-binding.”

“You’re missing the bigger picture, Lena.”

“How big of a hit would we take?”

“Lena—”

“How big?” Lena asked.

“I don’t know, maybe five points?”

“It could be more.” Lena whispered.

“You want me to get Winn to run some numbers for you?” Maggie’s voice was becoming high pitched and annoyed. “Lena, we drop five points when the Giant’s lose to the Patriots. I don’t want you asking the American public for permission like you’re asking to stay out an hour past curfew. This is none of their business.”

“You know as well as I do that the American people have a funny way of deciding what is and is not their business.”

“Lena, look at me.” Maggie said in a quiet voice. “Do you like her?”

“Yes,” she said after a moment’s pause.

“Then give her a call.”


	12. Chapter 12

Across the capital, in a modest apartment above a mom-and-pop style pizzeria, Alex and Kara were burning the midnight oil unpacking boxes. When Kara had accepted her promotion to move away from National City the sisters agreed that they would share Alex’s apartment, and now they were spending every night unpacking and rearranging the furniture to try and fit everything in the tiny two-bedroom apartment. The exposed brickwork and industrial pipes created quite the aesthetic, but coming from the south of Hollywood to, well… _this_ was quite the adjustment for Kara.

One good thing about the place was the heating. Between the pizzeria’s wood-fire oven and the old steam pipes, their apartment was never less than eighty degrees, not that it bothered the California natives. And they didn’t have to worry about a draft from the windows since every single one faced a brick wall maybe an arm’s length away.

The biggest perk absolutely had to be the free pizza that always managed to make its way to their doorstep. When the DiNublia family realized just how much pizza Kara could put away they started leaving an unclaimed pie or two by the girls’ front door on their way upstairs for the night.

After her terrible day, Kara was beyond happy to see Alex already opening a bottle of wine as soon as she walked in the door. A few hours of ranting, unpacking, two pizzas, and bottle of white wine later and the girls were back to their new normal.

“Hey, Alex,” Kara called out from her room, “Do you know how to work caller ID?”

“How can you not know how to work a telephone?” She heard from the living room.

“I’ve been paying attention to other things recently.”

“Why the hell do you need a landline anyway?”

“I just like the feel of it, okay?”

“But it’s just plain useless,” Alex said as she dropped a box of linens on the couch. “You give everyone your cell number anyway.”

Kara looked away from her sister and continued setting up her books on the shelf.

“I’ve never had a landline before.” She said in a small voice.

That certainly got Alex’s attention. It always seemed to be the small things, the things that people didn’t even bother to think about that reminded Kara she was adopted. Learning to ride a bike, first day of school shopping, needing glasses, and apparently having a ‘family’ number for someone to call.

“Well, pay attention now because I’m sure your boss is going to call to ream you out for yelling at POTUS today.”

“Alex!” She cried in embarrassment.

“Is it true you almost walked into the oval?”

“That was an accident,” Kara insisted as she entered the living room, “you know that building is covered in rooms and doors that all look the same to me.”

“Richard is going to be laughing about this for a week.” Alex chuckled.

“Nooo,” she groaned, “Working with your older sister is officially unfair.”

“Life’s tough, buttercup,” Alex crumpled her napkin and tossed it at Kara, “Time to knuckle up!”

“I’m going to my room so I can throw a book at your head.”

“Hmm,” Alex mused, “make sure it’s a big one, would you?”

Kara resumed arranging her library, but her thoughts kept coming back to the President and their odd little meeting, well, the one _after_ she put her foot in her mouth. She seemed so normal and relaxed, completely opposite of the ice queen who cut her cousin down to size in a way Kara never could. Oh god, she totally blew any chances of playing in their league when she opened her big fat mouth. Reason number 672 why she should never try to be more like Clark.

“She must think I’m a lightweight reporter without any class at all.”

“If anything she probably thinks you’re a heavyweight reported with nerves of steel.” Alex came over to lean against the doorway to Kara’s room. “It took a lot of spunk to stand up to Clark from what I heard around the water cooler.”

“Clark I can handle, but the President is just scary.”

“Yeah, that can take some getting used to.” Alex mused with a smirk.

“Not that I’d ever need to get used to it. I’ll be somewhere else writing about lost dogs next week.”

Kara slumped into her desk chair and laid her head on her arms in defeat. She never even wanted all that fame and recognition when she published those online articles. The only purpose was to call attention to the Luthor’s rise to absolute power and their resemblance to the last time a madman controlled the country. And now here she was, being dragged to the White House, calling out her cousin for leaving her, and watching the President eat chocolate kisses.

“Hey,” Alex broke into her thoughts. “I know this pretty smart lady at work and she told me something really important a few years ago.”

“What’s that?”

“Life treats each of us like an arrow. It drags us back so it can fling us forward into something great. Our job is to trust in our abilities, and just keep aiming. Stray arrows are nothing more than unfocused dreams.”

“How poetic.”

“Yeah, this lady is also a huge fucking sap.”

Kara let out a bark of laughter. “I can tell.”

At that moment a blaring alarm cut through the apartment. The phone—someone was calling her!

“Wait,” Alex said as Kara went to pick up the receiver, “press the grey button and the number will appear on the screen. That’s your caller ID.”

Kara did as she was told, but immediately froze when she saw the number, which, to her eternal credit, wasn’t actually a number at all.

“Who is it?” Alex asked.

“The White House.”

“How in the world do have their number memorized already?”

“It’s not a number, Alex” She held up the phone so her sister could read words scrolling across the screen:

‘ _White House: Oval Office (Secure Line)_ ’

“Don’t just stand there,” Alex pushed, “Answer it!”

“Um…h-hello?” Kara asked the phone.

“Kara?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“I can see I’ve made quite the impression if you don’t even remember the sound of my voice.” The woman half-joked. It was like she was trying to be bigger than she felt while also seeming down to earth—wait.

“Madam President?!”

“So you _do_ remember.” She said followed by a soft laugh, if Kara didn’t know better she would’ve sworn she heard a sigh of relief. “I was wondering, um… are you doing anything Friday?”

“I’m planning on going to sleep and waking up when there’s a new president.”

“…Oh” She crushed her. Kara Danvers, featherweight blogger, just killed the most popular president in the last fifty years.

“No! I just meant that, you know. It was a joke is all! I still feel terrible for this afternoon. When I said—I meant it to be… you know what? I’m just going to move to another country so I can stop embarrassing myself.”

There was nothing but soft laughter coming through the phone. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t a complete loss, after all. Making the President laugh was definitely a good thing, right?

Kara glanced around the room to see Alex’s eyes go wide just before she slithered out of the room. Apparently she had heard the laughter too, but maybe she was getting out of dodge before things got ugly.

“I’m impressed that you were able to get my number,” Kara said, “I technically don’t have a phone.”

“What do you mean?”

“I moved in with my sister last weekend and we had plugged the phone in only two hours ago. _I_ don’t even know the number yet.”

“If it makes you feel better I don’t know your number either. I asked my secretary to get you on the phone and 20 minutes later here we are.”

“That’s…I’m going to try and not be terrified by that, Ma’am.”

“Good luck, it scares the hell out of me.” Now it was Kara’s turn to laugh.

“But, um, I should stop stalling,” she continued. “As I’m sure you know, Japan’s Prime Minister is visiting Friday and we’re hosting a state dinner… I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go… with me—and you’re under no obligation at all—but I thought it might be fun, and uh… there it is. That’s why I called you.”

Kara experienced absolute paralysis for the second time that day and this time she was certain her heart had ceased beating. The President thought it might be…fun? This was the woman who had stood there and listened to Kara divest her of all authority and good will not twelve hours earlier.

“Kara?”

What in the world was the President playing at? This could all be some elaborate scheme to get her in a public space to destroy any last chance she had at a career as a journalist!

“Kara, the joint chiefs don’t take this long to make a decision—”

“What’s this about, Madam President?” Her bravado from this afternoon had returned and Kara was honestly surprised by the authoritative tone in her voice.

“I don’t understand your question.”

“Is this just a ploy to humiliate me? Ma’am, I already apologized for my behavior this afternoon and—”

“Kara, please stop.” There was a deep breath on the other end of the line like the President was trying to calm herself before continuing. “This is just a dinner. Normally we pick a White House staffer out of a hat so I’m not paraded around as the lonely single mother. Samantha was supposed to be my date on Friday, but she fell ill.”

“So this really _is_ just dinner?”

“Yes, just dinner.”

“Madam President, I can’t believe I managed to do this twice in one day. I’m so sorry.”

There was a light chuckle through the line. “You needn’t apologize for either one, but I still haven’t gotten an official answer on my dinner invitation for Friday night.”

“I’d be honored, Ma’am. I’m just a little…uh, what do I do? I-I mean, what happens now?”

“I’m going to have my personal aide, Mike Mo’Neil, give you a call sometime this week. He’ll make sure you have every questioned answered before Friday. There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

Kara let out a huge sigh of relief she didn’t even know she had been holding.

“Thank you, Madam President.”

She hung up the phone and returned to the living room where her sister was sorting through a box of kitchen utensils. Kara picked up her own box of glasses and started stacking them on the tiny island, but her hands were still shaking so much that she nearly knocked them over. She grabbed a towel to dust them off and knocked over the flower vase. In righting the flower vase, she knocked over a bottle of wine.

“You’re awfully jumpy after that call,” Alex smirked, “Got a hot date or something?”

Kara turned to her sister with wide eyes and sent two glasses flying off the island with her spasm. Yeah, Alex knew what a White House invite felt like first hand.


	13. Chapter 13

_Roughly three years ago…_

The coffee was stale. Not that she really minded all that much—coffee is coffee, and, as far as Alex was concerned, anything that got her brain out of neutral in the morning was good enough…

But this was her first morning off in over a year and all she wanted was a good cup of coffee and a decent chocolate croissant to start the day. If she was going to be used and abused by all manner of elected villains for the next twelve hours, the least the universe could do was give her a good cup of coffee.

“Do you really have to testify?” Kara’s pleading voice brought her back to the phone call she had completely tuned out.

“It’s my day, Kara. I have to take the hit.”

“Alex—”

“I’ll see you later.”

She disconnected the call before her sister could object and downed what remained of her coffee. Yeah, this was not coffee; maybe ‘bean juice’ was more appropriate.

She watched the patrons of the café mill about while waiting for their own cup of… coffee. They seemed like normal people just trying to get their morning fix before the workday started. Maybe she should think about getting a real job, something that’s 9-to-5 where she can go home every night.

One man with a shiny new briefcase and shoes that probably cost more than her motorcycle was angrily speaking to the cashier. Apparently he got the bean juice too—just drink your dishwater in peace like the rest of us, jackass.

Not only did the universe saddle her with this asinine trial and some crappy coffee, but now she also had to listen to this hotshot wannabe… and maybe slash his tires.

“They’re waiting for us,” said a hard voice to her left.

Alex turned to look at the woman who was suddenly sitting across from her. Long dark hair fell over a freshly pressed oxford shirt. The light blue somehow brought out the subtle highlights in her hair—sun or salon? The woman crossed her legs and Alex nearly had a heart attack when she realized she was wearing a skirt with, hold up, were those micro fishnets? But her eyes, so dark despite the sunlight blasting through the café, seemed to have flecks of red in them. She was absolutely gorgeous and Alex had totally forgotten how to breathe.

“Alex,” the woman called to get her attention, “We need to get to the courthouse.”

If this was the lawyer Lena had provided then her day was suddenly looking up. Guess the universe came through in a pinch after all.

“You want to get breakfast somewhere first?” Alex asked.

“We’re literally sitting in a café. Didn’t you eat?”

“Judging by their coffee, any food will be abysmal,” said Alex. “Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Now that I think about it, it might be my favorite because it’s usually the only meal I can sit down for.”

“That’s great, but they’re waiting for us, Mrs. Danvers.”

“Ms. Danvers, actually. I’m not married.”

“My mistake.”

“They can wait for us; let’s grab a coffee on our way over— _actual_ coffee.”

“They really can’t wait, and you shouldn’t be nervous.”

Alex rose from her seat and the woman followed suit.

“I’ve taken three bullets in the back and been stabbed twice,” Alex boasted as she threw on her trademark leather jacket. “The last thing I am right now is worried about this damn hearing.”

The woman made to follow Alex out of the café, but she paused to ask:

“Ms. Danvers, is there something you haven’t told me?”

“There are lots of things I haven’t told you,” Alex called over her shoulder.


	14. Chapter 14

It was a beautiful April night, one of those rare evenings that hints at the summer to come. The White House was awash in a brilliant glow and the flash from TV and media cameras gave it a shimmering effect. The guests looked absolutely stunning in their black-tie suits and formal gowns, but President Lena Luthor was not greeting her guests at the doors, nor was she eagerly awaiting their presence in the dining room.

Lena was standing in front of four grown adult men and giving them the deadliest stare she could maintain while Conner was squealing with laughter from the couch.

A girl’s night out meant a boy’s night in and Conner had handpicked his troops and their duties for their evening of frivolity and messiness. As such, the men stood before Lena as she paced in front of them like a Sargent before unruly troops. When Conner was younger it was truly a serious business, but now it had simply become tradition—and more of a game.

“Bedtime is _exactly_ nine o’clock,” Lena said, making sure to look Mike in the eye, “I understand this rule was a bent, if not completely broken last time?”

Conner let out another squeal of laughter. “Mommy, nooooo!”

Mike leaned around the President and gave Conner a wink while signaling the boy to be quiet as a mouse. Lena turned back to Mike and raised her signature brow.

“Ma’am,” he said, back straight and staring into the middle ground to continue the charade. “We wanted to make sure Conner had a chance to see your speech. He took a mandatory nap earlier in the day and was back to bed after the first ten minutes.”

Lena turned back to Conner who had both hands over his mouth to prevent any more laughter from spilling out.

“My speech lasted half an hour.” She told her son.

“You were boring.” The boy managed to get out between giggles.

“Well,” Lena said to the group, “I guess I should be thankful you weren’t shooting nerf darts at my face on the screen.”

It was a subtle glance, no more than a fraction of a second, but Lena happened to catch the movement as everyone looked to Winn who had turned a violent shade of pink.

“Oh, my god, you did not!” Lena’s character broke completely and she was already smiling like a Cheshire cat at the boys and their creative antics. Conner lost his composure and rolled onto his back to laugh so much he cried. While Lena looked shocked and appalled, the boys were clearly remembering whatever had happened at the last boy’s night because no one could keep a straight face anymore.

“I don’t even want to know anymore,” Lena said being the first to regain he composure, “You all are terrible.”

“Absolutely, Ma’am.” James joked.

“Alright, get out so I can say goodnight to my son.”

“Popcorn, Winn!” Conner yelled from the couch.

“Yes, sir!” Winn responded as he left the room. You wouldn’t think that three adult men would be looking forward to babysitting little Conner so much, but they had been causing trouble in the West Wing all day with their planning and scheming for tonight.

Lena sat down on the couch and Conner, already bathed and in his pajamas, simply laid back to rest his head in her lap.

“Make sure you don’t eat too much, okay?” She begged him. “Last time you couldn’t get to sleep because you were so sick.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” Lena brought a hand up to play with his thick black hair. “Are you nervosa?”

“Am I nervous?” She asked. Conner nodded. “A little.”

“Why is your dinner scary?” He asked and cocked his head to the side like a puppy.

“Nervous can also mean I’m excited about the dinner.”

“Okay. So why are you nervous?” Damn her son and his advanced comprehension rate. Misdirection should work at least sixty percent of the time, not ten.

“I have a date. Like in the movies.”

“A real one?”

“Yes.” Lena paused for a moment as Conner started playing with a loose thread on his stuffed Hulk. “Conner…is that okay with you? That I have a real date tonight?”

“Yeah?” Conner looked at her like _she_ was the ignorant child in this conversation. “I think it’s cool.”

“How do you mean?”

“Jason’s dad has a girlfriend and now they’re going on a lot of family trips and stuff. If you have a girlfriend that we can do that too, right?”

“Sweetie, we can do that with just us you know?” Lena chuckled a little at her son’s logic.

“Yeah, I guess…but it could be fun.” Conner sat up and turned to face his mother like he was struggling to put his thoughts together in a way that would make sense to an adult—as if it were the adults that just didn’t understand simple things like this. “Jason comes to school with better lunches now. And he has notes in his lunch just like me. And at recess, he said that his dad is acting funny, but in a good way—like he got up really early one morning to make a giant breakfast. And last week they all made pizza together and flour got everywhere, but no one was mad and stuff.”

“Do you wish we did more stuff like that? Just you and me?” Lena asked trying to figure out what it was her son was trying to tell her. Maybe she needed to take some more time in the mornings and evenings to be with him?

“We do stuff like that all the time. It just seems different—not better, just different…” He sort of petered off towards the end like he lost his own train of thought. “Did I make you sad?”

“No, but I want to make sure _you’re_ not sad,” Lena said, “You would tell me if you were sad, right?”

Conner nodded his head vigorously. “Mommy, I like our big family. I don’t think Jason’s family is better than ours it’s just different.”

“Okay.” Lena poked his potbelly and laughed when he looked truly offended. Then the tickle war began and that’s how the boys found them: rolling around on the floor laughing their heads off.

“It’s time to get ready, Madam President.” Mike said before biting down on a hotdog.

“Hotdogs!” Conner yelled and took off like a madman for the kitchen.

“Thank you, Mike.” Lena said.

“It’s nothing at all, Ma’am.”

Lena got on her feet and headed to her bedroom door.

“Complement her earrings,” he said.

“What?”

“Your date. Complement her shoes or earrings or something. I hear girls like that sort of thing.” Mike said before disappearing into the loud and chaotic kitchen.


	15. Chapter 15

Kara Danvers walked through the grand entrance of the White House while doing her best not to stare at the amazing pieces of art adorning the walls, or the guests in their exquisite formal wear for that manner. While her sister was able to change into her formal tuxedo without leaving the office, Kara had to arrive by herself and face the gauntlet of media reporters and White House guests wondering who she was and why she was here.

Kara was just about to bolt and call the whole thing off for a quiet night at home with her pals Ben and Jerry when a petite woman in a conservative formal dress came up to her.

“Ms. Danvers…?”

“Yes,” she responded.

“Hi, I’m Jess,” said the woman as they shook hands, “I’m the President’s secretary. She asked me to come get you for a light reception in the residences.”

“Oh, that sounds great.” At least she would know her sister and Maggie. Two people out of a room full of strangers staring at her wasn’t that bad.

The formal dining room upstairs was filled with little groups of close friends milling about with glasses of various spirits. Kara noticed a small collection of wait staff wandering back and forth with trays of finger food and drinks. She let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding when Maggie walked straight over to her—finally another friendly face.

“Maggie!” She exclaimed.

“Hey, Kara,” Maggie replied, “You look lovely in that color. You should wear blue more often.”

“Thank you. I have no idea what I’m doing here.”

“Relax, little Danvers, you’re here for dinner and to have a good time. I promise.”

“All right.” Kara still seemed skeptical. “Have you seen Alex?”

“I think she went to get us some drinks.”

At that moment Lena walked up to the group from Kara’s blind spot, but before she had a chance to enter her panic mode, she felt a reassuring hand on her arm just as before.

“Kara Danvers,” she said, “I’m Lena Luthor. We met at the White House?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I remember,” said Kara as she readjusted her glasses in embarrassment. The President looked absolutely stunning in a long backless red dress. If Kara didn’t know better she’d think Mike picked the President’s dress to match her own.

“I’m sorry, Kara, but that was hands down my favorite part of the week.” Lena said.

“Dear god,” Maggie said in exasperation, “If only we could get her to shut up about it.” When Kara’s face turned a slight pink she continued, “No, really. Thank you for coming tonight so I wouldn’t have to listen to the story for a twelfth time.”

Kara finally saw her sister walking over to them and she stood there willing Alex to move faster and end her suffering.

“Damn, Danvers,” Maggie said with a whistle as she took in Alex’s custom tailored tuxedo and high heels.

“Wow,” Lena said with wide eyes, “you’re really rocking that suit, Alex.”

Kara managed to catch her sister’s eye, but apparently their telepathy was way off that night because Alex did nothing to diffuse the tension in the air at all. Instead she looked Kara dead in the eye before turning to the President to say:

“Yeah, you wanna make out with me right now, don’t you?”

“Well, when don’t I?” Lena responded with a smirk.

The whole group had a bit of a laugh while Kara was trying to figure out what in the world as going on and why her sister would betray her like that. That look was supposed to be ‘get me out of this mess’ not ‘quick, make it even more awkward!’

“Hey,” Maggie said with false bravado, “get your own Danvers. This one’s mine.” Alex planted a soft kiss to her girlfriend’s forehead.

“I’m trying.” Lena mumbled to her friend who promptly snorted into her drink. Alex made sure to catch Kara’s eye after that comment and tilt her head slightly towards the President. What in the world was she—oh. _Oh_.

This was a date—a real, honest to goodness date. She was on a date with the President of the United States. The same President she publically placed on trial in a silly blog post. The woman she had just insulted a few days before. Oh god, what was she thinking?! She can’t go on a date with _the_ Lena Luthor! This woman was _way_ out of her league on so many different levels. And how did she even end up here? One moment she was standing in the Mural room calling her a mockery of a leader and suddenly she’s standing beside Lena as her _date_ for the evening? She couldn’t breathe. Yeah, she was definitely going to pass out or have a panic attack right in the middle of the White House. Or maybe she was already panicking? Is there any way to tell if you’re in the middle of a panic attack? There’s got to be a way to tell, right?

“Kara?” She was brought back to the room by Lena’s voice and worried green eyes scanning her face. “Do you need some water or something?”

Kara looked back at the President, really looked at her for the first time since that moment in the Chief of Staff’s office. Lena was just as nervous as she was, but she did a better job of masking it. Must be from years of practice as a public icon. Although her hand on Kara’s arm was meant to reassure her, Kara could feel the small tremors caused by Lena’s shaking hands.

Her hair wasn’t in its usual tight bun, but rather in a simple ponytail that allowed her hair to cascade down to her shoulder blades. The more she looked, the more Kara saw how Lena had removed the more opulent aspects from her outfit to better match whatever Kara showed up in. She didn’t wear jewelry and Lena wore only a necklace. She wore a simple blue dress with a plunging V-neck; Len wore a simple red dress without a back. She wore flats and Lena wore low heels. Kara wasn’t a complete fool, she knew the president had a fully-stocked closet the size of her modest apartment, but she still went out of her way to make sure Kara didn’t feel ostracized by the grandeur surrounding her.

“I’m fine,” Kara responded, “I think it’s just the general splendor of the room.”

Lena smiled at her, “I forget that we’re all used to it by now. Would you like to sit down for a minute?”

“No, thank you, I’ll be okay. Just needed a moment to take it all in.,” she said looking into those green eyes again, “I’m sorry if I missed most of the conversation.”

“You didn’t miss anything important,” Lena replied.

“Madam President,” Jess interrupted, “the receiving line is in place.”

“It sounds like our table’s ready, everyone.” Lena announced to their little group.

Lena turned to head back down the stairs and paused to offer her arm to Kara who glanced at her sister’s shit-eating grin only once before she let herself be led away by her date.


	16. Chapter 16

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

Lena picked up her personal phone and gave Maggie a ring. She and Conner had just finished eating their incredibly healthy breakfast of sugar flakes in a bowl of milk, but the hearing was just about to come on the news and she _did_ promise that he could talk to Maggie before it started.

Conner had insisted on giving Maggie a pep talk since she gave him one for his reading quiz last week and Lena wanted to make sure her friend was going to be able to handle Agent Danvers. They were still in their pajamas—fuzzy socks included—huddled under a blanket on the oversized couch with their feet fighting for space.

Maggie’s voice came through the speaker just as the cameras started broadcasting the live feeds and Conner practically pounced on his mother to reach the phone.

“Good morning, Ma’am,” said Maggie.

“Wrong Luthor!” Conner cried out before dissolving into giggles due to Lena’s tickles.

“It’s way too early for you to be awake, young man.”

“Mommy promised I could give you the peep talk.”

“I think you mean pep talk, sweetie,” Lena chimed in.

“Yeah, that’s it.” Conner nodded at the phone like Maggie could actually see him, but immediately lost focus when he saw the woman on TV. “Maggie, I see you! Mommy, look!”

“Give me a hint, buddy, where are you?” Asked Maggie.

Conner started giggling again, “I’m at home, silly. You can’t see me!”

“Your 7 o’clock, Maggie, waist high.” Lena said.

Maggie subtly peeked over her shoulder to check out the cameras without the networks realizing what was about to happen. Conner moved over to sit on his mother’s lap with his eyes glued to the screen and his little hands clutching the oversized phone. Maggie turned around completely this time and gave a wink right into the camera.

“Maggie, you’re silly,” Conner said with a big smile on his face. Then he saw Alex standing next to her and immediately sobered up. “Otay, Maggie. You’re in the big room so time to be a big boy.”

“Is that your best pep talk? I’m unimpressed.” Maggie said as she turned her back to the camera in a huff as if she were having this discussion in person. “Where are those Luthor genes I’ve heard so much about?”

That really got Conner going and Lena just about fell off the couch laughing when he got up and stalked towards the screen to tell her off.

“Maggie-rita Soy-year, you need to focus,” Conner said in his best impression of Lena. “Now is not the time for this foolishness. Now is the time for action!”

Maggie turned back around to give him a mini round of applause. “That was so much better! Have you been practicing that in the mirror like you mother?”

“That was _one_ time, Maggie!” called Lena from the couch.

“Maggie,” Conner started whispering into the phone as if his life depended on the next words, “you need to save my friend.”

“I’m way ahead of you, little man.”

“You promise?” Conner asked as he put his little hand on the screen.

“Promise.” Maggie said.

“Conner,” said Lena, “can I talk to Maggie while you get dressed for school?”

“But, Mommy, I—”

“You gave her your pep talk and we agreed that you’d go to school in the afternoon.”

“Fiiiine.”

“Jess is coming to drop you off,” said Lena. After Alex, Jess was definitely one of his favorite people in the world. Conner instantly perked up and ran off to his room. Maggie’s laugh filtered through the phone as Lena turned it off speaker.

“I bet you ten bucks he wears a suit,” she said.

“I’m not stupid enough to take that bet. Listen, I don’t care that much about your ass, but if it gets too serious in there, you’ll let me know to send in the cavalry, right?”

“Yes, Ma’am, your confidence in my legal abilities is quite comforting.”

“You’ve been out of the courtroom for a few years is all I’m saying. Besides, I’m saving the big guns for Lex and myself—you know how we just love to break the law. Keep it in the family, you know?”

“Ma’am, this isn’t a secure call, so I’m going to say that was a joke and hopefully the interns at the NSA don’t have a panic attack.”

“How does she look to you?”

“Who?”

“The tall drink of water standing next to you with the red hair.”

“She looks fine. Doesn’t seem too nervous.”

“I meant, do you think she looks cute?”

“Ma’am, please stay out of my love life.”

“That’s interesting, last I heard you didn’t have one,” Lena said and began making her way to the closet to change. “What’s she wearing?”

“Red shirt and a leather jacket.” Maggie said with a grumble, “You did tell her she was going to be in court today, right?”

“I like you and her.”


	17. Chapter 17

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

Alex heard most of the woman’s side of the conversation even though she was trying to be polite and ignore it. She saw the Congressmen and women filing in through the back doors and knew she had little time left.

“Are you’re talking to the President?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

“May I?” The woman passed over the phone and Alex got straight to the point, “Aren’t you supposed to be running the country?”

Lena’s laughter sounded through the phone, “My lead agent isn’t here so they’re not letting me leave the residence. Looks like Lex will just have to manage on his own today. Listen, I want you to know you’ve got about a thousand people in Metropolis standing with you right now. I’m not lying, I have very smart people showing me pictures of people just standing around watching the hearing on jumbotrons in the middle of the streets.”

“You should get on that, Ma’am. Don’t they know we’re in a recession?”

“Well, I threatened to fire anyone in L-Corp that was standing around watching the trial instead of working, but the acting CEO told me to ‘shove it,’ can you believe it?”

Alex saw most of the officials had already taken their seats and decided to wrap things up. “Kind of hard to see you as threatening once the ice has melted around you, Ma’am. I’ll be back on duty as soon as I’m done.”

She didn’t wait for a response before she hung up the phone and passed it back to the shorter woman. She began scanning the faces of her accusers to anticipate who would be on their side and who just wanted to get as much as possible out of their fifteen minutes of fame.

“What the hell is going on, Ms. Danvers?”

“You can call me Alex, you know.”

“Fine. Alex, what’s all this really about?’

“You’re not going to tell me your name? That’s kind of rude.”

At that moment, the Chairman turned on his microphone and began his announcements for the day. The woman assigned to the majority consul looked… not so much worried as bitter and frustrated. Clearly there was no love lost between the majority consul and the White House consul sitting beside Alex.

“Will the first witness rise, raise your right hand, and swear the oath that’s written in front of you?” the majority counsel commanded.

“This’ll be your easiest trial. It’s just a family thing.” Alex told her lawyer and stood facing the large podium where thirty elected representatives sat ready to peal off every layer of protection she had tried so hard to build.

“I solemnly sear that the testimony today will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

“Would you state your full name for the record, please?”

“Alexandra Danvers.”

“And will you please identify your counsel?”

Alex turned to her lawyer and flashed a predatory smile before saying, “We’ve actually never met.”

“Maggie Sawyer, Mr. Chairman.” She said leaning over to use Alex’s microphone.

Ahh, so this was the Maggie that Lena had been talking about. While her assignment to Conner kept her pretty far from the political sphere on the campaign trail, she had heard talks of the infamous ‘Maggie’ from Conner and the President. Alex thought she was just another agent or a secretary like Jess, but apparently not.

And just what the hell was Lena thinking assigning the White House press secretary of all people to be her lawyer for a congressional hearing? She could see the briefing now; ‘Why, yes, Mr. Dumb Newsman, I do know what happened at the trial considering I was a major player in the entire affair.’ Alex made a mental note to talk to Lena about her reckless behavior—the woman had just gotten her son back for fuck’s sake.

“Ms. Danvers, the committee thanks you for your appearance today.” The Chairman said.

“Considering it was a subpoena, I’m not entirely sure I had a choice.”

A ripple of laugher floated through the press and observers watching from the back of the room.

“Let’s get right into it then, shall we? Why are we here? What are we after? Many, if not most of us, were surprised by…”

As he droned on for at least five minutes—honestly, between this guy and the jackass at the café́—Maggie attempted to scold Alex.

“What are you doing making jokes at a time like this?” she whispered intensely.

“I’ve decided today is going to be fun and if I’m the only one, then so be it.” Alex responded in kind.

Maggie looked as if she were about to argue the point, but thought better of it at the last minute and turned her attention back to the chairman’s speech.

“In this age when the most minute details of a candidate’s life are brought into the light, in a business where secrets aren’t kept secret very long, this committee would like to know how the President was able to never mention these crimes while asking us for her vote.”

“Actually, she was detained, but never charged—both times,” said Alex, “So in the eyes of the law, no crimes were committed and I guess we can all go home now, right?”

More laughter from the cheap seats—Man, she was on fire today.

“Be that as it may, she still lied to the American people—even if it was lying by omission.”

“Ms. Danvers, I’m the majority counsel, Lucy Lane. Good morning.” Said a short, stern looking woman at the podium.

Alex looked over and gave her a solid once over. She’d had some limited success with the whole ‘blatantly checking you out’ technique, but apparently this time she had completely misread her mark because the infamous Lucy Lane didn’t even flinch. Time to backtrack.

“Morning, Ms. Lane.”

“What is your current job title?”

“Deputy Assistant Director of the Secret Service and Personal Bodyguard to Connor Luthor.”

“And what was your previous job title?”

“Personal Bodyguard to Governor Lena Luthor. Before that, Personal Bodyguard to CEO Lena Luthor, before that, Security attaché to L-Corp, before that Bike Messenger for Marathon Curriers.” More laughter from the press—at least her news cycle would be focused on her good-natured humor in the face of overwhelming adversity.

“How long have you known the President?” the first congressman asked as his five-minute countdown began.

Alex settled into her seat a bit and truly got comfortable. If they were starting all the way back there it could only mean two things: 1, they knew exactly what they were looking for or 2, they had no idea and were fishing. She took a good look at the faces set on high that were to judge her actions, relevant or irrelevant. Ten friendlies, seven, no, eight clueless… Eleven suspicious of anything Luthor and… Shit. What the hell was _he_ doing here?

“We met for the first time when L-Corp hired me for their protection unit about 12 years ago, but I would say our friendship began when she became Governor of New York 7 years ago.”


	18. Chapter 18

While most of the guests were led straight to the East Room from the reception in the residences, President Lena led Kara and their small group down a small staircase to a long formal hallway so she could make a grand entrance with Prime Minister Himura and his wife for the press. Alex and the others gave Lena and Kara a wide berth so the two could have some privacy before the gauntlet started.

“Once we get to the end of the hallway I have to do a thing,” Lena began, “Maggie and Alex will escort you—”

“Mike walked me through it, Ma’am.” Kara stole a glance at Lena before asking, “Do you do this often?”

“State dinners? They’re a bit rare, but—”

“No, I meant… do you go out on—do you often—”

Lena chuckled and turned to face Kara. “Do I date a lot?”

“Yeah,” Kara smiled herself, “Sorry for the blunt delivery.”

“Not really. This is my first date in quite some time,” Lena flushed bright pink at her answer, “ How about you?”

“Lately, I seem to be going on a lot of first dates.” Now it was Kara’s turn to blush.

“Then you’re more experienced at this than I seem to be,” Lena laughed at her own insecurities and adjusted her hair. “When did you figure out this was actually a date?”

“About five minutes ago.” Kara and Lena shared a quiet laugh at the President’s expense.

“So we’re off to a _great_ start,” Lena’s words dripped with sarcasm.

“No, don’t say that,” Kara playfully bumped her arm in Lena’s, “So far it’s just your typical first date fiascos.”

They stopped at the final door before the grand staircase so they could still be hidden from the press.

“I’ll just have to find a way to be different from the others.” Lena winked before turning to the nearest secret service agent.

The agent motioned to a companion at the bottom of the steps while whispering into his wrist-mic. The live orchestra of the East Room began playing “Hail to the Chief” as Prime Minister Himura and his wife emerged from a door across the hall. Kara and the others hung back to watch the entrance out of sight.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” A booming voice carried through the hall, “the President of the United States!”

Lena glanced over her shoulder and said, “By the way, nice earrings.”

The three officials slowly began their decent to the main foyer of the East Room. Alex grabbed a beet-red Kara and nearly dragged her down the small servant’s staircase.

The East Room was beautifully appointed with the Marine Corps Orchestra playing soft music for the first course or two. It was shortly after the main dish that Kara started to relax and truly enjoy her company for the night. As the President’s date she was sitting at the main table in the center of the room with the guests from Japan and Chief of Staff. Luckily for her, Jess and her husband were sitting to her left so she didn’t feel too intimidated by the high-profile guests at their table.

There was a bit of time before the dessert course and the stewards were busy clearing away dishes and refilling wine glasses. Kara had managed to stay away from most of the conversation at her table—especially since the President was speaking and translating for the guests of honor. How is it even possible for her to look even more stunning while speaking Japanese? Their table had pretty much broken into side conversations when Mr. Himura and Lena got up to greet the other tables and Kara was captivated by an argument between Cat Grant and General Becket.

“I’ve ordered many men on assignment to terrible places, Ms. Grant. I’ve sent them into the desert, to mountain ranges where the snow never melts; I’ve sent them to enemy-occupied cities by dropping them out of an airplane and I was with them every step of the way.” The general was clearly in no mood to be trifled with. “Are these the acts of cowardice you were talking about this afternoon?”

“Sir, if I may—”

“You think telling the public exactly how this administration treats its military is an act of cowardice? You think I give a damn what the president thinks of me after she promised to support our men and women in arms and then cut their funding?”

They were speaking in hushed tones, but Kara was quite surprised someone with authority would be bold enough to make the same silly mistake she did.

“I think tackling the President on her blindside and catching the first train out of town is an act of cowardice.”

“Wouldn’t alerting the public to the staggeringly dangerous vulnerabilities of the current state of our military be an act of conscience?”

“It would, but your motives are personal.” Lena chimed in as she returned to the table with Mr. Takara Himura.

“Madam President, defense spending is down 100 billion from twenty years ago.” The general continued.

“I believe that has something to do with our country no longer being in a fifteen-year war.”

“Op-Tempo is up and now Pers-Tempo is rising exponentially.”

“General, we have guests at our table who might not know what you’re talking about.” Lena looked subtly at her date and the guests of honor, all of whom were becoming quite interested in this debate.

Cat explained it to them, “Pers-Tempo is the rate of turn-over for individual jobs.”

“Exactly,” Lena said, “and I’m more than happy to take the blame for a booming economy that’s luring service men and women into the private sector.”

The general was looking a bit flushed now, and Kara could see the ghost of a smile playing at Mr. Himura’s lips.

“What about the C-4 ratings, Ma’am?”

“Ahh, yes.” Lena turned to face Mr. Himura, but the table was still able to hear her words. “Mr. Himura, we have a readiness test for our troops so we know which ones might need more training. General Becket thinks that a C-4 rating, our lowest rating, means ‘unfit for service,’ but what the general is forgetting to mention is the test is based on a ‘two-war’ doctrine.”

If possible, General Becket’s face managed to turn an even more alarming shade of red.

“I guess we’ll let the American public make that distinction for themselves.”

“Indeed.” Lena said and, while she had been all smiles during her explanation of the army exercises, she leveled a stare at the general that could strip paint. Before she could say anything more, Kara made her tiny and not quite so insignificant presence known.

“Excuse me, General Becket?” The whole table turned to look at Kara as if noticing her for the first time that night.

“Yes?” He managed to grit out.

“I-uh, I noticed that among your many decorations is the Distinguished Service Medal.”

“Yes, I won it while on temporary duty with the U.S.S. Talbot.”

“I know, sir, my step-father was in the military.” Kara said, “The thing is, the Talbot was never fired on, and it never fired its guns.”

“What are you implying?”

“Sir, I’m sure I’m wrong, but I don’t understand how you actually earned that medal.”

The table remained silent for several heartbeats while everyone digested that piece of information. Finally, the silence was broken by Lena’s quiet comment to Mr. Himura and his soft laugh at what was spoken.

Lena turned from Mr. Himura to look at Kara’s embarrassed and slightly worried expression. The President had been fighting back-ally battles with General Becket all week trying to get him not to do those interviews. Even Maggie had been at a loss for how to convince him to step off his high horse. But here came Kara Danvers, fresh off the boat reporter and resident giant killer, calling out a three-star general at a state dinner without so much as flinching.

“On that note.” Lena rose from the table and turned to hold a hand out for Kara. “May I have this dance, Ms. Danvers?”

If possible, Kara turned an even more alarming shade of pink and fiddled with her glasses. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I-I mean, yes, Ma’am, I’d love to.”

President Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers walked hand-in-hand to the center of the dance floor accompanied by many appreciative “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” from of the guests.

“Madam President,” Kara whispered in a panic, “I can’t lead.”

“But I can.” Lena gave Kara a marvelous smile as the orchestra began once more.


	19. Chapter 19

As Lena led her elegantly across the dance floor, Kara became aware of the numerous pairs of eyes following them. The room quieted as all conversation stopped and the guests fixated on the captivating sight. Kara glanced at the tables as they moved around the room and chanced a glance at Alex and Maggie who were holding hands and smiling as they watched the pair.

“I don’t know how you do it.” Kara stated.

“My mother forced my brother and I to learn ballroom dance at a young age.”

“No, I mean the whole song and dance routine.” Kara focused her attention on Lena’s face. “You’re a CEO one moment, then President Luthor the next, and I’m imagining there’s a ‘mom’ mode in there somewhere.”

“Mommy.” Lena broke her concentration on the movements and led them to a smooth repetitive circle. More couples were joining them on the dance floor. “Conner calls me ‘mommy.’”

“I’m just curious as to who I saw in the Chief of Staff’s office on Tuesday.” Kara could see the beginnings of a crack forming in the President’s carefully placed mask.

“You saw _me_ ,” she said, “just Lena. The same woman who called you for a date.”

“Yes, but I haven’t seen her around tonight.” Lena looked at their feet to hide her face.

“It’s not often I can just be myself,” she said, “and never at formal functions like this.”

“Then why ask me out to one?”

“Because I’m the President.” Lena explained. “If I have a date to a formal event, the press has nothing to stand on because I always take a staff member to these things. But if word got out that you were over for dinner and a movie…”

“It would take an entire week for the media to let that bone go.” Kara finished for her.

“But, Madam President,” Kara objected, “Now you just have a room full of people looking at you wondering who I am and why I’m even here since I don’t work at the White House.”

“First of all, they’re not looking at me. And the answers to their questions are straightforward enough: ‘Kara Danvers’ and ‘because she said yes.’”

By then the President’s mask had all but disappeared and it was just the two of them: Lena and Kara. They talked about everything from work, to pizza toppings, to Disney movies, and even Conner’s favorite flavor of ice cream. Kara enjoyed the way Lena’s eyes sparkled when she talked about her son. They were eventually asked to sit for their dessert by Maggie and Alex, and their table had finally gotten itself back together after Kara’s scandalous insinuations.

Throughout the after dinner drinks and on the drive home, Kara couldn’t fathom why she had been so against the President in the first place.

-           -           -

Maggie exited the shower to a sight for sore eyes, namely her girlfriend fast asleep with an arm lying across the bed so she would wake up when Maggie got into bed. She toweled off her hair and changed into pajamas as quietly as possible before sliding under the covers. Alex woke up and rolled over so she could be the little spoon for once.

“I can’t believe you told Kara you’d move in with her.” Maggie joked.

“Shh… She doesn’t know we’ve been living together for years.” Alex said without opening her eyes.

“Won’t she be upset when you stop going back to the apartment?”

“After your attempt at playing Cupid tonight I doubt she’d notice if a piano fell on her.” She rolled over in Maggie’s arms so they were face to face. “You _were_ the one who told Lena to ask her out, right?”

“Hmm, you think I made a bad call?”

“I’m just worried about her, that’s all. She didn’t take the campaign, election, censure, or literally anything else well.”

“Maybe she was just dealing with her own stuff.” Maggie tried.

“She’s not like me, Mags,” Alex explained, “She’s timid and shy, but then she’ll turn right around and beat you to death with your own words.”

“She can’t possibly be that scary.” Maggie scoffed.

“Talk to me again after she shows you her teeth.” Alex turned back around and inched backwards so she was flush with Maggie’s stomach. “The girl is ridiculously opinionated and stubborn.”

“Sounds like I made the perfect call then.”

“How so?”

“Can you think of anyone who enjoys being contrary just to be contrary more than Lena Luthor?” Maggie smiled and buried her nose in Alex’s short hair. She could feel her girlfriend’s laughter bubbling up and spilling out into the night.

“Damn, and I thought we were a power couple.” Alex joked.


	20. Chapter 20

Mike and Jess were at their desks in the oval foyer when Lena arrived that Monday morning at the ungodly hour of five o’clock. This was unusual for two reasons: 1) the President never got to the office before six unless absolutely necessary. Mike even has an image burned in his head of the President in her pajamas and slippers yelling at the joint chiefs in the situation room at four in the morning. 2) The President never comes in early when it’s a day Conner goes to school. Lena has even been known to come back to the office after putting Conner to sleep if she absolutely needed to be there for a meeting, but normally breakfast with Conner before seeing him off to school was sacred time not to be infringed upon.

This morning, for whatever reason, Lena Luthor walked right up to her secretary and personal aide with a bounce in her step and a brilliant smile on her face.

“Good morning, Jess!” she said. Jess waved briefly from her place at the computer without bothering to even glance at the odd sight before her. “Morning, Mike.”

“Good morning, Madam President.” He responded. “James and Cat are in the oval waiting for you. They said there was a scheduling hiccup of some sort they’d like to go over with you.”

“Fine by me.” Lena took the offered portfolio from Mike and started flipping through the first few overnight memos. “Can you get me the number of a local florist?”

“Yes, Ma’am. To whom would you like the flowers sent and what style?” Mike was already poised to take notes and waiting for further instructions.

“I want to do it myself, I just need the phone number.”

That caused Jess to stop her endless typing and look up at her best friend with suspicious eyes.

“I-I don’t understand…” said Mike.

“I want the number of a florist.” Lena looked at Jess to make sure she was indeed speaking English. It was more common than she’d like, but not wholly unexpected considering she knew half a dozen languages.

Jess nodded and asked, “Would you prefer a direct line?”

“I still don’t—”

Lena turned to face Mike again, who took at least two steps back anticipating a signature Luthor lecture.

“I’d like to send some flowers, Mike. I don’t want to staff it out, I don’t want to issue an executive order or convene a grand jury. I just want a phone number.”

With that the President walked into the oval office where James and Cat were waiting to ruin her upbeat morning.

“Madam President,” Cat began, “we need five minutes to go over some scheduling changes with you before your first meeting.”

“I just need two minutes to make a phone call, then I’m all yours.” Lena picked up the phone and waited as Jess transferred the call to her open line.

“Who are we calling, Ma’am?” James asked.

“ _We_ are calling no one, Mr. Olsen.” Lena said while fixing him with a pointed look.

“I’m sorry, who are you calling?”

The look Lena gave him could have easily set any lesser man on fire.

“I’m calling the phi omega alumni chapter of the sisterhood for the organization of it’s none of your damn business. Now be quiet or I’ll kick you out of my office.”

James was now clearly sweating in his suit and Cat was pretty sure she saw him swallow.

“You really walked into that one.” She whispered.

“Shut it.” James said through gritted teeth.

-           -           -

Just outside, Mike and Jess were back at work when Maggie walked up to the closed door of the oval. When she gestured at the door to Mike he shrugged and quickly left the room. Maggie turned to Jess for help.

“What’s the President doing here so early?” she asked.

“Haven’t the foggiest.” Jess replied.

Suddenly the intercom next to Jess blared to life with Lena’s disgruntled voice.

“Jess, do you know what color roses signify ‘thank you’ or perhaps ‘friendship?’”

“Does this have anything to do with Kara Danvers?” Maggie asked with a slight tilt to her head.

Jess gave her an exasperated glare. “Do you know the answer to this one or are you going to make me Google it?”

“Pink and yellow.” Maggie responded.

Jess quickly relayed the information through the intercom and the women waited in silence for the next question they both knew was coming. Maggie threw a dollar bill on the table and Jess did the same as they both started counting down on their fingers.

“Jess, do you have any idea where my credit cards might be?” Lena asked through the intercom.

“They’re in storage in Metropolis with the rest of your personal items.”

Jess slid both bills into the top drawer of her desk as Maggie let out a full belly laugh.

“Double or nothing on her buying the entire flower shop?” she asked.

“You’re on.” Jess replied as they both got out their wallets.

-           -           -

“Listen, it might be better if you just bill my company for the flowers” Lena said to the phone as she began playing with the cord, “Oh…yes, I understand. That shouldn’t be a problem…what’s the minimum for a business purchase? Mhmm…How about I buy one of everything and if it’s not enough for the minimum you can bill me the full amount anyway.”

James and Cat exchanged a worried glance as the President continued her phone call. If this was over Kara Danvers they were about to have some trouble on their hands.

“Delivery is to the Daily Planet, office of Kara Danvers…K-A-R-A, yes, just whatever fits in her office and you can give the rest away to whomever you’d like. A note? No, it’s quite alright, I’ll send a currier to deliver the note,” she chuckled a little at the florist’s joke, “Yes, I have no idea what I’m going to write so I’ll need the extra time. Okay, thanks again. Bye.”

“Okay,” she said to the room as Maggie entered, “What was it you wanted to talk about?”


	21. Chapter 21

Kara Danvers was running late. Well, not really considering it was a Monday and she didn’t need to be at the offices until noon anyway. Since Snapper’s intimidation tactics hadn’t appeared to work, Kara was summoned back to the main offices to work on more useless articles that would never be published. At least her ‘un-publishable columns’ were being returned to her with less and less bloody red marks from Snapper.

As soon as she arrived at her floor with coffee for her friends, she was swept immediately into Snapper’s office by her cubical-mate, Carson.

“Apparently you wanted to see me?” Kara asked as she entered her boss’ office. He rose from his desk to pace around the large room as he gave his speech.

“So there I was, thinking maybe I should hire that girl Kara Danvers for the Daily Planet. She seems to be very popular with the readers and critical of the administration’s lack of transparency. And it’s not like she knows very many people in town…”

Kara was feeling smaller and smaller with each passing remark, but when Snapper threw a copy of the Washington Post on his coffee table, she had no choice but to step up and take a peek.

“Then I picked up the morning post,” he concluded.

The article entitled "Most Eligable Bachelorette Off The Market?" was highlighted by a massive photo of Kara being dipped mid-waltz by the President.

“Mr. Snapper, I—” Kara began, but was quickly drowned out by Snapper’s red-faced outburst.

“What the hell happened?!”

“She called me at home, and—”

“I thought you hated her!”

“No! It was innocent, just dinner, I swear. Her real date canceled at the last minute because she got sick and there wasn’t another White House staffer to go with.”

“Are you telling me she couldn’t find another date out of the 35,000 White House employees?” Snapped ran a hand over his balding head. “Did you sleep with her?”

“Excuse me?” Kara squeaked. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“It is because when it’s the President, it’s never personal,” he retorted, “I hired your reputation, Kara. I wanted the rottweiler, not a chihuahua!”

“That’s unfair!”

“It’s incredibly unfair!” he roared. “Politics is all about perception. You of all people should know that.”

“You’re making way too much of this.”

“Am I? This is your time, Kara. You’re sitting at the grown-up table now and you have a chance to be an ace reporter. But this relationship had better go all the way, because with the leader of the free world there is no halfway. You have from here to your cubical to decide if you’re going to be a heavy hitter or a cocktail party joke.”

Snapper returned to his desk and began to angrily demolish some poor reporter’s article.

“There is no relationship, sir. It was one dinner.”

Snapper took his time taking a deep breath and letting it out before responding to Kara. He honestly didn’t have anything against her, and, for a 35 year old with no formal education in journalism, she was way ahead of the curve. He just didn’t want to see her throw it all away for something as silly as a political misstep.

“My suggestion is that you either take control and find a way to use this to your advantage or you bow out now. I’ll give you the day to decide.”

Kara nodded once and slowly began the short walk to her cubical. There seemed to be something happening as everyone in the office was suddenly watching her and there were at least three of her co-workers hovering by her tiny space.

“What’s everyone—oh, golly…”

Kara stopped as she rounded the corner and got a first look inside her office. There were vases of flowers lining every possible square inch of her desk, filing cabinets, and floor—even her chair had a vase or two balanced precariously on it. No two bouquets were the same and the sheer variety of flowers, some of which she had never before seen, had completely taken her breath away.

“It’s from her.” Carson said.

“Yeah, right,” Sarah scoffed, “I’m sure she had some White House flunky send them.”

“No, really! I talked to the messenger myself when he brought the card in. He said the President took ten minutes to write the card and she went through three drafts.”

“What’s it say, Kara?”

Sarah nudged her towards the corner of her desk with the card leaning against a square vase. She opened the simple blue and grey card with shaking hands and read the hand-written note inside to her colleagues.

“It says, ‘Thank you for joining me last Friday, I had a great time. Maybe we can do it again as ‘just us’ sometime.’ There’s a smiley face at the end.” Kara began to laugh at Lena’s silly attempt at being normal by adding that—as if it could possibly downplay filling your plus-one’s office with flowers as a thank you.

“Nice catch, Kara!” Carson said as he gently punched her arm.

“Wait, what?” she asked turning from person to person as they gave her thumbs up or clapped her back.

“You’re the President’s girlfriend.” Sarah barely managed to say around the grin threatening to break her face in half. Her co-workers slowly meandered back to their desks after congratulating her, but Kara remained standing in front of her tiny cubical-turned-flower-shop too stunned to move.


	22. Chapter 22

Monday evening came quickly since there were no major emergencies for Lena to solve. She was cleaning up the dishes from a small family dinner in the residences while Cat drank wine and inspected Connor’s latest fridge-worthy collection of art.

“We should hire her.” Lena said.

“I’m sorry,” Cat replied, “What are we talking about?”

“Kara Danvers, the reporter. I think we should hire her.”

Cat moved over to the couch as Lena finished putting the last dish in the washer.

“That’d be funny. I think Rhea would kill the poor girl in a month.”

“No, I mean it,” Lena took a seat on the opposite end of the couch with her own glass of red wine, “We should hire her for the spotlight piece.”

“I’m choosing to ignore the fact that you think she’s cute, but there’s really no evidence to think she’d even be capable of handling such an important piece of work.”

“It’s not a formal biographical analysis of my life, Cat. It’s a simple feature—in the Daily Planet of all things.”

“She’s a blogger who’s been promoted to reporter because they couldn't ignore her.”

“Your point is that she’s unqualified?”

“That’s exactly my point.”

Cat and Lena fell into a comfortable silence and sipped their wine while watching the sunset through the large bay windows. When she first moved into the residences, the stewards offered to rearrange the room to make it more homely, but she enjoyed the view too much. There were nights that first year where she and Conner would fall asleep on that very couch gazing at the moon and stars until they could no longer lift their eyelids.

“At the state dinner she proved to be smart, funny, opinionated,” Lena paused to take another sip of wine, “a good conversationalist, and someone who’s not afraid to throw a punch—even when she’s horrendously outranked.”

“But are you asking me to hire her as the reporter for the Spotlight story,” Cat began, “or are you trying to find a way to keep her around the White House?”

“I’m not sure I like what you’re insinuating.” Lena said with a sly smile.

“Quite frankly, I don’t give a damn, Madam President.” Cat set down her glass and fixed Lena with a knowing look. “This could be something that comes back to bite us if we don’t handle it carefully.”

Lena took another moment to enjoy her wine—but mostly just to ignore her mentor—and gather her thoughts.

“She did quite the number on us during the campaign and I want to hear what she has to say once she’s seen the other side of the coin. I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised with what she writes. At the very least it would give credibility to our actions if we’re being picked apart and observed by a well-known adversary.”

“Okay,” Cat said with a nod, “I’m going to try and pretend this isn’t the worst self-inflicted parent trap idea in the world.” That got a chuckle out of her protégé.

“I’m serious about the Spotlight piece, Cat. Put James on it, he seems to be _so_ excited about good press these days.” The sarcasm in her voice was obvious, but Cat wondered if Lena forgot just how critical the press was in getting her elected in the first place.

“Oh, he’s gonna love this.”

-           -           -

Maggie honestly didn’t know what to expect on Tuesday morning when Cat randomly showed up at her office. After their first month in the White House, James and Maggie soon realized that they would never have a moment of peace pre-programmed into their schedule unless they put in the effort themselves. That’s when the morning coffee meetings between the press secretary and communications director began to become a habit. Every morning, they would arrive a half hour early and eat their cafeteria breakfast in Maggie’s office while going over the schedule before the senior staff meeting in the oval office.

Everyone in the West Wing knew it was a sacred time and absolutely crucial to preventing another knock-down, drag-out fight that crippled all advancement on capital hill and stalled the news cycle for a full three days. It took Lena’s threat of firing the both of them and barring them from visiting Conner to finally calm them down and get everyone back on track.

But this morning, Cat Grant had decided that their breakfast routine was the perfect opportunity for an ambush. To be fair to the chief of staff, she _did_ wait until after their meeting was over before disrupting them, but still… Sacred time!

“Can the two of you talk for a second out here?” Cat asked as soon as James opened Maggie’s office door.

“What’s going on?” Maggie asked.

“Did something happen?” James chimed in; he was glancing around to see who was walking around the halls.

“Nothing,” Cat replied, “but I wanted to tell you this in a place with people so you couldn’t get upset.”

“I don’t understand,” James said, “Why would we be upset if nothing’s wrong?”

“We’re offering Kara the Spotlight job.”

“Are you joking?” He whispered.

“No.”

“You can’t possibly think this is a good idea.” Maggie seconded.

“I thought you liked her?” Cat said with a smile laced with arsenic.

“As a date, not as the _sole author of a feature article_!” Maggie’s voice was just barely being contained.

“Well, it’s not my decision anymore.”

“Cat!” James yelled in disbelief.

“Keep it down!” Cat tried to calm the waves tension rolling off the two.

“What the hell made you think I wouldn’t scream just because there were people?!” James yelled.

“There was a thirty percent chance.” Cat explained.

“CAT!” They both objected.

“All right, back in the room.” She sighed. Maggie reopened the door and Cat followed her. James was the last to enter the room and slammed the door behind him. He turned to the women with the broken knob still in his hand, but they were busy gaping at the splintered doorjamb and cracked plaster along the wall.

“So…” James tried to lighten the atmosphere of the room, “How much do you think this is gonna cost?”


	23. Chapter 23

James was calm, cool, and collected. He got a crash course in carpentry, enjoyed a second breakfast, and even managed to organize the useless binder of polling data that Winn had given him in the three hours following his ‘temper tantrum’ as Cat called it.

He had managed to get ahold of Kara Danvers after hunting down her sister at the gym—which was a truly terrifying sight. If you ever wanted to see how little power you have, just head down to the gym and watch Alex beat the crap out of some rookies twice her size. Anyway, the younger Danvers was much more manageable and only objected a little to being summoned to the White House like a child to the principal’s office.

Thus James found himself not so subtly ordered to sit and wait in Jess’ office until Mike brought the new reporter—if you could call her that. He had read her prior articles, of course, and they actually weren’t half bad. There was a clear tone of rebellion and flat-out rejection of their ideals, but he was a speechwriter and could definitely work with that. It was the lukewarm understanding and resentment he took issue with, but there was no indecisiveness to Kara’s writing. Every statement was supported with facts and data, and every argument flowed easily from there. She might not agree with them, but the girl could write when she cared about the subject.

“Have you noticed that I’m one of the few people in this building who’s not bent out of shape about the whole Kara thing?”

“You heard the news and slammed the door so hard it broke,” Jess responded and poked James to get him off her desk. “You heard a reporter would be following us around and you _broke_ the White House.”

“Yeah, but I’m over it now.” James missed Jess’ eye roll because Mike had just walked Kara into the secretary’s office. “Ms. Danvers.”

“Kara is fine,” she responded. He motioned for her to follow and they began the short walk to his office.

“Were you offered coffee or…?”

“I’m fine,” she said curtly, “I mean, yes, I was offered something to drink—and my coat, actually, but I’m fine.”

“I see...” The girl was clearly nervous and acting as if he was going to reprimand her for something. They quickly entered his office and he shut the door behind them so they could have some semblance of privacy amongst the chaos of the communications offices.

“So I have to say, I haven’t seen someone take on General Becket like that in a long time.”

“Yes, well, Mr. Olsen—”

“James.”

“Yes, sir.” He smiled at her deflection of the informality. “I’ve been thinking about that ever since your office called me this morning, and I have something to say in my defense, if I may.”

“I… okay?” James was taken aback by Kara’s defensiveness hidden beneath her nerves. He thought the girl was quite bold going toe to toe with Becket, especially after having gone a few rounds himself with the general last week.

“I think it’s wrong to summon someone to the White House to reprimand them simply for voicing opposition. I think that was very wrong, and incredibly inappropriate.” Here she paused as if trying to find a third way of explaining her same point. “It was inappropriate, sir, and—”

“It’s wrong?”

“Yes!” Bless her heart, the woman actually stomped her foot. It took every ounce of willpower for James to continue with a straight face as he took a seat behind the safety of his desk.

“I’ll keep that in mind, but you weren’t called here to be reprimanded.”

Now it was Kara’s turn to be thrown off guard.

“Why, then?”

“You’re here so I can offer you a job—”

“I’m asking because I do not think it’s fair that I should be expected to consistently play the role of antagonist in this game. I understand I got my big break after those inflammatory articles, but I’d like to grow as a writer and it’s not like—I’m not, you know…” Kara petered off as her brain finally processed James’ words.

“There it is.”

“You want to offer me a job?” With that, she fell more than sat in the chair facing his desk.

“Not me, necessarily—I’m just the messenger, but yes.”

Kara looked like someone had just thrown a pie at her face. “I don’t understand, sir.”

“What are you missing?”

“I have always been opposed to this White House. I wrote an article saying the President and her brother were trying to _reinstate the monarchy_. And then I basically called the President a _murderer_ in no uncertain terms.”

The way she was going on, James was beginning to be worried about the possibility of a panic attack.

“Yeah, that was a bit mean-spirited, but—”

“My own sister didn’t talk to me for months!”

“Yeah, you’d think that might be a sign that you’re probably on the wrong side of things…” At Kara’s gaping mouth he decided to switch gears, “Even if you hadn’t told me all of that, I would already know it because I’ve read the articles and I actually thought the prose wasn’t half bad. And besides, the President still keeps copies of your articles in her desk.”

“She’s read them?” Kara’s face paled considerably.

“Yeah.”

“And she _liked_ them?!”

“We think you have an interesting writing style. Look, Kara—”

“Mr. Olsen, I loathe almost everything you guys believe in.” At this, Kara stood back up and clutched her small shoulder bag to her side as if it was providing her with a direct injection of bravado.

“Where are you going?” James asked as he looked up at her.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, “I’m standing up, because I need to make a point and it’s important.”

“Okay…”

“I’ve found the President to be smug and patronizing,” James could see her mentally check her posture and straighten her back. “It’s accepted at face value that those who disagree with her are somehow lesser beings or ignorant.”

“I don’t think you’re a lesser person than I am.” He said.

“How many people read those articles and assumed that I was mean, spiteful, and stupid?”

“No one. You were an invaluable asset during the campaign—believe it or not—because you highlighted our weak spots! You were the Knight of Mirrors showing is stark contrast what other people saw when they looked at us.” At this James paused and took a deep, calming breath. At the very least he had to give her credit for consistently getting everyone fired up and spirited. “Cat thinks you might need therapy, that’s about the only real negative thing I’ve heard. Are you in therapy?”

“No,” she responded quickly, “and I don’t see how there’s anything wrong with therapy if it helps, but—that doesn’t matter. The point is…”

“Kara, stop,” he interrupted. “Don’t you want to write an exclusive about the President and her son?”

“ _Every_ reporter at the Daily Planet wants to do that, but—”

“The President likes smart people who aren’t afraid to disagree with her. “I highly doubt she’d trust anyone else to write a non-biased piece—especially one of this importance.”

“But if I write the exposé…there’s a strong possibility it would be biased against her.” Kara sat back down in her chair.

“That’s a risk we don’t mind taking,” James said, “because the truth is an absolute defense.”


	24. Chapter 24

Maggie and James followed the President into the Roosevelt room Tuesday afternoon with their arms full of binders and portfolios from Winn’s latest polling. After the morning’s excitement, the rest of their day seemed almost boring in it’s routine. Well, if you could call arguing with congressmen and dissecting polling data routine…

“Ma’am,” Maggie said as she threw her pile of stuff on the long conference table, “they’re going to be pressing about the assault weapons of the crime bill today.”

“Please don’t tell me we’re even entertaining that thought.” James begged.

“Are you getting the numbers we need from the hill?” Maggie asked skeptically.

“Yes, just look at the latest poll!” James jokingly referenced the massive stack of gibberish that Winn had provided them as Maggie and Lena barely held back their laughter. While the endless lists of numbers and charts might’ve made complete sense to Winn, they could’ve been written in Russian for all the good it did the people in this room. Jess poked her head in to grab Lena’s attention.

“Madam President, Ms. Danvers is here to see you,” she said, “I have her waiting in my office.”

That sobered Maggie and James up instantly. They exchanged a worried glance deciding which one would fall on their sword today. After a quick game of rock, paper, scissors Maggie mentally prepared herself for the inevitable blowback.

“Thank you, I’ll be right over,” Lena said.

“I’m, uh, getting questions about Kara in the Press room,” Maggie started in—keep it professional and the President might not eviscerate her in the middle of the bullpen. “How do you want us to handle it?”

The look Lena sent Maggie could’ve frosted the Sahara, but James decided to jump in and help, “I think we should have a consensus on how the White House is going to handle it; put up a united front so to speak.”

“And what, exactly, is the ‘ _it_ ’ we’re handling?” Lena asked.

Maggie had officially reached the ‘fuck it’ stage of this conversation and asked, “When reporters ask if you’re dating Kara Danvers, what should I say?”

“Well, let’s see. One, we’re not dating; two, no further comment.”

“No comment?” James asked in disbelief.

“What do you want me to say, James?” This was clearly uncharted waters for the President and even James could tell she was out of her depth. “I have this amazing woman waiting in my office after your little talk and I have no idea why. It could be anything from ‘hey, thanks for the flowers’ to ‘stuff your Spotlight feature’—that’s my spectrum!”

She took a deep breath to calm herself down while Maggie failed in her attempt to stop a broad smile from adorning her face. The President was well and truly smitten and there was nothing to do about it now other than let it run its course—whatever the ‘ _it_ ’ happened to be.

“I just…” Lena paused again to gather her thoughts into a comprehensive sentence, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to have the White House comment on something so trivial. We have real work that needs to be done, so if you get any questions, kindly direct their attention to the latest and greatest of our achievements.”

“I agree, Madam President.” Maggie said.

With that, Lena walked out of the Roosevelt room with her head held high and her hands awkwardly clenching into fists by her side.

“Is it just me or is the President nervous?” James asked.

“She’s absolutely terrified.” Maggie said with a hearty laugh.

-           -           -

Lena entered the oval in a bit of a huff from Cat’s office entrance fully expecting it to be empty, but was more than shocked when she saw none other than Kara Dancers staring out one of the windows behind the Resolute desk. She hadn’t heard Lena enter the room, but remained standing with slightly heavy shoulders before the window. Lena wondered just what had grabbed her attention so fully. Perhaps she was watching Jacob trim the rosebushes as Lena often did in her afternoons.

She stood with her arm across her stomach, clutching her elbow like it would protect her from this great big room. Lena knew better; the oval office was often hailed as an asset to any president wishing to exert their power, but truly it was the great equalizer. In here she wasn’t the President, she was merely Lena Luthor: a forty-year-old single mother of one. To anyone else, she never spent much time in the oval because she was busy running the country. But Jess knew Lena felt incredibly small and decidedly _unworthy_. The room wasn’t too bad when it was filled with her closest advisors and friends, but the emptiness was often too much for Lena to bear on her own.

And there stood Kara Danvers, subconsciously conforming to the same feeling of powerlessness. The spell was broken when she suddenly turned towards the President with soft eyes like she had been expecting her any moment now.

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Madam President.”

The President hesitated only a second before walking forward to stand at the the presidential seal in the center of the room—she was meeting her halfway.

“I thought we agreed you’d call me Lena.” She said.

“You suggested it, but I never agreed.” Kara said as she took a few steps forward. “I guess you could always order me to call you Lena, but—”

“It would defeat the purpose.” Lena finished. There was a short awkward pause as both women attempted to get their bearings. “Did you like the flowers?”

“Yes, they were lovely,” Kara said with a smile while tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “They caused quite a scene in the office.”

“That…wasn’t my intention. The flower store I called had this rule about minimums. And I didn’t want to use government funds, but my personal funds have been frozen since the election so I had to use L-Corp and…” Lena faded away when she realized tat she had caught the Kara Danvers’ rambling bug. She glanced at her feet to gather her thoughts and regroup, but at Kara’s soft laugh she looked up.

“You’re normally the more articulate one,” she said and began her own walk to meet Lena.

“I’m just now realizing that the flowers might’ve been a bit much.” Lena admitted with an awkward laugh. She tried to ignore the heat rising into her cheeks.

“It’s fine. Now that I understand the kinks in the system I’m actually quite flattered you went through all that trouble to send me anythong at all.”

“I was only trying to say thank you for being my plus one for the evening.”

The women were now standing no more than an arms length away from each other and Lena was starting to wonder how much time remained before another crisis stole her away from this quiet moment.

“Marine One is about a minute away, Ma’am.” Jess poked her head in to announce. Not much quiet time at all, apparently. At Kara’s confused look she explained.

“I’m giving a luncheon speech at the Mayor’s conference this evening so I’ll have to leave soon. I’m sorry—”

“Oh, no, that’s fine. I just stopped by to—”

“Are you free for dinner Thursday night?” Lena couldn’t tell who was more shocked at the words that came flying out of her mouth, but she’d bet her entire life savings that Kara was not half as surprised.

“I, um—actually, I have some concerns,” after witnessing Lena’s emotionless Presidential façade falling back into place, Kara tried to soften the blow, “not many, just a few—well, one, really. I just have the one concern.”

“Would this concern have anything to do with one of us being the President?” Lena asked with a raised brow.

“Okay, see, I might not know you at all, but I do know _that_ look,” Kara gestured to Lena’s expression, “is just you trying to make light of this.”

“I promise I’m not mocking you in any way,” Lena assured her, “I’m just a woman asking you over for a dinner.”

Out of nowhere, a loud clamoring—not unlike a jackhammer—sounded from the yard just outside the oval office.

“What’s that?” Kara asked looking towards the wall of windows.

“That’s my ride.”

Lena looked to the window in time to see the presidential helicopter, Marine One, and several decoys land on her back lawn. The President crossed the room to don her coat before returning to her desk to pack a small briefcase.

“My boss doesn’t like that I went on a date with you.” Kara blurted. “He has serious concerns about me exploring a social, you know, scenario-thing, with the President of the United States.”

“Well, when you put it like that, it doesn’t seem that good to me either.”

“I think…” she took a deep breath to help her push the words out of her mouth, “I think I have some reservations about it too.”

“All right.” Lena was careful not to swing one way or the other and scare her off. She wasn’t outright rejecting anything, just stating some hiccups that needed to be clarified. No need to panic, she’s probably just as nervous right now and she doesn’t have the benefit of being the commander in chief.

“It’s just that, since James offered me the spotlight position, I think it’d be a conflict of interest, right?”

“Kara, I have no problem with a reporter dating the President of the United States.” Lena deadpanned.

“Well…” Kara took a deep breath and pulled herself up to her full height and looked the President dead in the eye, “I have a problem with it.”

“I understand, after all, I was the one who suggested your name.” Lena walked back to face Kara’s gaze and say her piece before Jess ushered her out of the room. “I will respect your wishes and keep this a work-only relationship should you choose to accept the job.”

At Kara’s relaxed sigh, she continued, “Let us know tomorrow morning what you’ve decided.”

“Thank you, Madam President.”

Kara watched the President turn and walk away without glancing back until she was already in the helicopter. Jess came in shortly after to lead her back to the lobby of the West Wing where she would shadow Maggie and James for the evending as a sort of trial period. That night, and well into the morning hours, she kept praying to whomever would listen that she didn’t just do a good thing poorly.


	25. Chapter 25

Kara was up well before her alarm and on the first bus to Pennsylvania Avenue. Having not slept all night, she decided it was best to just turn down everything and walk away from the whole situation. She accepted the Daily Planet position to become a better journalist—or a journalist at all, but she had no business being the author of a spotlight piece when she couldn’t even get a filler article published. James seemed to think there was a spark or prose within her, which was certainly saying something, but she had no idea how to find it herself. And it wouldn’t be fair to her co-workers who were much more experienced in writing feature pieces. She had already tainted this administration with her words; it should be someone else’s turn.

And she also couldn’t just _date_ the President of the United States for crying out loud. It’s not like they met at a coffee shop and immediately hit it off or something—not that they really hit it off at all aside from that dance. There were still decisions from the past four years that Kara questioned, even if she had learned to keep them to herself in front of Alex. It’s not like it would work anyway when you consider the disdain she felt for the sibling kings. Whatever happened to make her sister so loyal to that family was carefully concealed to seemingly everyone outside of Metropolis. Not that there was a gag order of any sort, but no one from the city talked about the incident other than to show their undying support for the Luthor family. Not that she cared anyway.

The White House was already buzzing with aides, congressmen, and senators by the time she arrived. It was commonly accepted that the West Wing never truly slept, but seeing it in person at five in the morning was jarring nevertheless. An intern led her to Mike’s desk and they exchanged pleasantries while leading her to Cat’s office to wait for the chief of staff.

She sat in one of the horribly uncomfortable guest chairs—thick and unforgiving leather with those hard wooden armrests—and glanced about the room. The office certainly belonged to the former media tycoon with her six plasma screen TV’s playing all the major networks in silence. There wasn’t much else in the office other than a charging station for Cat’s numerous external hard drives and mobile devices. The back door leading to the oval office was slightly ajar and Kara could observe most of the room from her place in the shadows.

President Luthor was pacing around the desk and couches while mouthing along to whatever she was reading. Kara assumed she was preparing for another speech that evening. Suddenly Jess’ door to the oval flew open as Vice President Luthor and Cat Grant entered the room.

“Madam President,” Cat began in solemn tones, “an air force transport carrying 400 nurses, 50 support staff, and a crew of 30 army instructional doctors on a trip to the teaching hospital in Al-Karak, Jordan exploded in midair about 20 miles south of Amman.”

“Cat…” The President had closed her binder and slowly moved to drop it on the nearest couch. Kara could see her profile from this angle and noticed the President had paled considerably. Cat continued her briefing regardless of Lena’s weak attempt to stop her.

“What was first thought to be a mechanical failure was later claimed by a fundamentalist group after a keyhole satellite sent back a record of—”

“Skip the bullshit, Cat, just—” the shock had worn off and now Kara could see the snap change from disbelief and denial to outright hatred and rage “God _dammit_!”

“Hard intelligence is telling us it was ordered down via Syrian defense military.” Lena completely ignored her chief of staff and immediately rounded on her older brother.

“What the fuck happened? They were _doctors_ and _nurses_!”

If it had been any other day, Kara would’ve laughed at the image of Lena Luthor taking on her brother who was nearly a foot taller and built like a cinder block wall. She marveled at how Lena could make the All-American offensive lineman seem like a child who picked a fight at school.

“The joint chiefs are in the situation room preparing a proportional response.” Cat said trying to steer the conversation back to the situation at hand, but the President was having none of it.

“Will one of you _please_ explain to me the _virtue_ of a proportional response?” she barked. “They hit an airplane so we hit a transmitter? An abandoned railroad bridge? What’s the point?!”

Lex tried to calm his sister’s building rage, “I know you’re upset—”

“You think?! I don’t want our response to seem like we’re grounding them for poor behavior—they didn’t break a vase, Lex, they _murdered_ _500 people_!”

Kara could clearly see the moment Lex Luthor dropped his title of Vice President and took up the mantle of protective big brother—she’d seen it in her own sister often enough. When he took a step towards the President, even Cat knew to stand down and escape the ensuing wrath of the Luthor siblings.

“Are you suggesting we carpet bomb Damascus or seize the airport in Hassan?” Lex roared, “Do you want to double the casualty rate? Is that what you’re suggesting I tell the joint chiefs?”

“I don’t want anyone to be dead in the _first fucking place_!” Kara watched the Lena deflate all at once as she collapsed on the nearest couch with her head in her hands and her shoulders bent as if the weight of the world had finally gotten too much to bear. Lex took a seat on the couch facing his sister.

“I know,” he agreed and turned over his shoulder to ask, “Cat?”

“Proportional responses. This is how you have to behave if you’re the only superpower remaining.”

“I agree,” he said, “It’s proportional, and it’s reasonable.”

“It’s merciful.” Lena said rising from the couch. She took a moment to collect her thoughts and fix her Presidential mask back into place, “No casualties with our counterstrike, Lex, I mean it. If there’s so much as a goat herder out there, they need to pick a different location.”

“Understood.”

“If they’re going to claim the low road that gives us the high road.” She gathered her discarded binder from the couch and followed her advisors out of the oval. “Someone has to be the adult.”

Kara had just enough time to look away and gently shut the door before Mike entered the chief of staff’s office.

“Ms. Danvers, I’m incredibly sorry, but something has come up and the President won’t be able to meet with you today. Would you like to reschedule?”

“It’s fine, actually,” she responded and rose to stand on shaking legs. “Can I just leave a message for Mr. Olsen’s desk?”

-           -           -

Kara exited the elevator on her office floor feeling like she was battling the worst hangover in her life.

“Kara!” Sarah shouted to grab her attention. Her cubical neighbors were taking a coffee break in the hallway and had just noticed her entrance.

“Hey, how’d it go yesterday?” Carson asked. “Snapper kept threatening to empty your cubical all afternoon.”

They were clearly in a good mood and had no idea that an airplane full of people had just been shot out of the sky. How did the President and her sister manage to smile after getting news like this?

“They offered me the Spotlight job,” she managed to spit out.

“They did not!” He was shocked, but at Kara’s nod he continued, “But you hate the Luthors.”

“Yeah…” She reached up to rub the back of her neck.

“Tell me about the look on Cat’s face.” Sarah said.

“I’m sorry, wh…?”

“The look when you turned down the job. I’m assuming it was Cat who asked.” Sarah and Carson exchanged a look of pure glee simply imagining the media tycoon’s expression. No one turned down Cat Grant so this had to be a first.

“Oh, um... it was James Olsen actually, the speech writer.”

Carson was the first to recognize that she might not be completely tuned in to the conversation at hand. “Kara, are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing.” She tried to organize her thoughts without giving away national secrets she shouldn’t even know. “Something came up while I was there; I had to leave a message with his secretary.”

“God, I hate these people,” Sarah started with agreeing nods from Carson, “Couldn’t even have the decency to stick around and hear your answer.”

“Probably thought she’d be so razzle-dazzled that she’d have no choice but to accept,” he added, “Did you meet anyone there who wasn’t completely power-driven?” Carson and Sarah shared a good laugh, and Kara finally snapped out of her daze.

“Don’t say that.”

“You’ve said much worse in—”

“I was wrong, okay?” She gripped the handle of her bag with so much force she was worried it might rip off. “Say they’re smug and their approach to policy makes you want to throw something. Say they’re rich brats who boast about their Ivy League degrees. Say they’re in bed with big business and that you can’t stand their laissez-faire position on welfare programs, but they’re not power-driven or elitists.”

Sarah and Carson exchanged a look of concern with one another as she continued her impassioned speech. Looks like she had finally tapped into that spark James had been telling her about.

“The people I saw today aren’t anything like the monsters under the bed from those _stupid_ blog posts. Their commitment is true, they are extraordinarily qualified, and they are more empathetic than we’ll ever be—they-they’re just good people… and I’m going to make sure the world knows it.”


	26. Chapter 26

A week later the press anxiously awaited the arrival of the White House staff to Air Force One after a UN summit in India. A surprisingly large number of countries had attended the meeting, the most elusive of which had been lured in by the prospects of exclusive contracts with L-Corp. While the Luthor siblings would never use the family business as a bargaining chip, they weren’t about to deny any rumors if it brought more countries out of the woodwork.

The Luthor siblings were on their way to board Air Force One to return home when Cat ushered them to a meet and greet with the press corps.

“Madam President!” a reporter from the Washington Post called out, “Any further follow-up on the Indian-Pakistan situation after New Delhi?”

“We spoke several times about Kashmir, and the Prime Minister of India assured me that they’re working towards a peaceful resolution. Pakistan’s Prime Minister seems highly motivated to reach a mutually beneficial arrangement and finally put this dispute to rest.”

“Can you tell us anything about your meetings with the representatives from Russia and Japan?” another reporter called out.

“Not today, but I can tell you there were quite a few spirited games of chess over the weekend.”

A bout of laughter rippled through the press—the President was known for swindling deals, trade agreements, and even souvenirs from world leaders by challenging them to a game of chess. Lena Luthor had been named a grand master at the age of twelve and she never missed an opportunity to use it for her own advantage.

“How did everyone do, Ma’am?” The original Post reported asked.

“My biggest challenge was actually the Prime Minister of India. I simply thought it was a home court advantage, but I learned something new this trip: chess was invented in India. There was a giant chessboard constructed at the capital and human figures were used as pieces. The people moved at the Emperor’s will.”

“That’s what I like to call the good old days.” Lex placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder as they began walking away. “Have a good night everyone!”

On the plane, Lena made a beeline for her bedroom to try and get some sleep after three days of non-stop meetings. Apparently the other summit attendees were more than willing to hold at meeting at three or four in the morning if it meant they got an audience with her. Not that she minded at all—aside from the severe lack of sleep—for each leader brought a decent offer to their chess match. And Conner got to spend the entirety of his days gallivanting about the old palace and learning to speak bits and pieces of languages to play with the other diplomats' children.

“Madam President,” Mike called from the doorway, “You have a meeting with Kara Danvers shortly after our arrival. Shall I change the schedule to make it a dinner meeting?”

Lena continued to carefully package the various toys and gifts the world leaders had gifted Conner. She’d have a difficult time spacing out the gifts from this trip. Her eye caught a glint of the old chess set from India’s Prime Minister from the bottom of her bag.

“Perhaps just snacks,” she said, “I will have just woken up and I think we’ll be too busy working to truly enjoy a meal.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he responded. The President and Kara had sat for multiple small interviews over the past week, but nothing more than a coffee break. Mike asked Jess to clear the President’s evening schedule just in case. Just like _T_ _eam Sanvers_ three years ago, Mike was determined to see things progress between the President and the spunky reporter.

-           -           -

“Why won’t she talk to me?!” Kara exclaimed that afternoon as the girls were grabbing an early dinner.

Alex watched her sister pace around their cramped living room gesticulating wildly as she complained about the President’s lack of transparency during the few fifteen-minute interviews she had experienced.

“It’s like I’m talking to a brick wall!” she continued.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have given her the cold shoulder?” Alex teased.

“It was the right thing to do,” Kara insisted. Maggie walked over from their shoebox kitchen with two slices of veggie pizza and an opened bottle of wine.

“You wanted a professional relationship with the President and that’s what you’re getting,” Maggie said, “You’re an investigative reporter, so find a way to get her to open up.”

Kara sat heavily on the old futon next to Alex and Maggie’s couch. She picked up her own slice of pizza and took a massive bite. Alex tried her best not to laugh at her sister’s poor eating habits. If only Lena knew the ‘cute blonde’ was the biggest slob…

“How did you guys get her to talk?”

“That’s cheating,” Maggie scoffed.

“No, I’m serious,” Kara insisted.

“It’s individual,” Alex said, “What works for me doesn’t work for Mags so you’ll have to find your own way.”

They ate in silence listening to the news play their various feel-good stories before Alex spoke up again.

“Have you changed your opinion about her in any way? Maybe she feels like you’re attacking her.”

Kara swallowed an abnormally large mouthful of pizza before answering.

“It’s not like I still hate her,” she mumbled, “I’m just… I’m not—I don’t know how to get from here to there. Like, I know she’s not the person I thought she was, but she’s not giving me anything to go off of so I don’t know who the real Lena Luthor is—I just get the mask of President Luthor.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Maggie scoffed from her place on the couch. “She’s always the President.”

“There was a moment at the dinner—and even before then—when she wasn’t the President, she was ‘just Lena,’” Kara explained.

“I think you’re reading too much into it,” Maggie maintained.

“I guess,” Kara felt a little deflated after their conversation. Maybe it really _was_ all in her head?

“I talk about Conner’s school progress, I think Mags uses chess?” Alex said despite Maggie’s elbow to her gut.

“Yes, but she needs to figure it out herself,” Maggie said through gritted teeth. She was definitely going to have a talk with Maggie tonight about her little sister and the President, but for now she didn’t mind being in the doghouse.

“You need to keep pushing her,” Alex insisted, “She’s the type of person who advances when she's cornered.”

“So you’re saying I _should_ ambush the President of the United States?” Kara asked with wide eyes.

“I’m saying that if you want her to be _herself_ , you should set the tone by being _yourself_.” With that Alex stood up and retired to the kitchen for some more pizza leaving Maggie and Kara to slug it out on the nuances of professionalism. Thank god she didn’t have to deal with that shit at work.


	27. Chapter 27

Kara arrived at the White House promptly at five, but had no problem waiting in Jess’ office for the President to arrive after her trip to India. What she didn’t expect was the President breezing past her with a box of Chinese take-out in her hands.

“Jess, you can send Ms. Danvers in when she arrives,” the President mentioned in passing.

“Welcome back, Madam President.” Kara called from her seat by Mike’s desk. She rose from her chair and stood facing Lena from across the room. She couldn’t help but think the President looked quite adorable with a mouthful of lo mien and eyes wide as saucers. She quickly swallowed her noodles and ushered Kara into the oval office.

“And how are you this evening, Ms. Danvers?” Lena sat down at one of the couches while Kara sat opposite her. There was quite the elaborate chessboard set up between the two of them on the coffee table.

“I’m fine, Ma’am. How was the summit and flight?”

“The summit was exhausting and the flight wasn’t much better.” Lena took the time to get another mouthful of noodles and look over Kara as the reporter examined the chess set.

“Are we going to play chess, Ma'am?” Kara asked with a hint of a smile behind her eyes.

“Possibly,” Lena looked at her with suspicion, “Why do you ask?”

“Maggie said she could only get you to open up when you play chess.”

“Maggie says a lot of shit.” Lena spat without thinking, there's no possible way Maggie would sell her out like that after texting her direct orders to play at least one game with the blonde. At Kara’s wide eyes she quickly followed with. “That was off the record! The last thing I need is for someone to tell the world about my dirty sailor’s mouth.”

Kara gave a hearty laugh at this. “From what Alex told me, most of the world’s leaders already know about your cursing habits first hand.”

There was a brief pause as both Lena and Kara sized up the other; Lena wondering if she could actually trust the reporter, and Kara wondering which version of Lena she was going to get tonight.

“The Prime Minister of India gave me a few chess sets from his private collection,” Lena started while trying to use the takeout box to hide her shaking hands. “I wanted to give them away as gifts. This one's for you, but it'll have to stay here for the weekend at least so the staff can record it as an official gift.”

“I’m really overwhelmed by this, and probably more so because I don’t actually know how to play chess.” Kara joked to lighten the atmosphere.

“I’ll help you out.”

“I don’t understand,” Kara said with a tilt to her head, “Are you going to give me lessons or something?”

“I was actually hoping you’d play a game with me during our interview tonight.” Lena studied the paper box in her hands and picked at her food to avoid eye contact with the blonde, “Maggie was right, I do open up more when I’m distracted. And I realize I haven’t been very fair to you in our previous interviews.”

“Now _that_ I noticed.” Kara said with a genuine smile, “I’d be honored to play a game with you, Madam President.”

“You know,” the President looked straight into her eyes, “when it’s just us you can call me Lena.”

“I’ll try…Lena, but I’m already so used to the formal titles.”

“You seem to be doing all right so far.” Lena allowed herself a small smile. She had been trying to distance herself from these interviews as much as possible in the hopes of squashing any stray feelings she may have towards the reporter. The crux of the matter remained that until she published the spotlight feature, there could be nothing but professional discourse between them. “Shall we begin?”

Kara looked over the board while desperately trying to remember Maggie’s rather hasty crash course in chess from earlier that evening. She picked up one of the pawns at random and moved it two spaces forward.

“Ah, the Fibonacci opening,” Lena said with false bravado, “Very interesting.”

“You’re just going to mess with me this whole time aren’t you?”

“That is the current plan, my dear.”

They continued moving various pieces around the board, some with more success with others until Kara let curiosity get the best of her.

“I heard something about China and Taiwan while I was waiting for you,” she mentioned, “Something about a Patriot missile test?”

Lena blinked just once before responding, “We’ll have to have you start wearing earmuffs around the oval from now on.” Kara couldn’t tell if she was joking or completely serious.

“Do you mind me asking how bad it’s getting out there tonight?”

“It depends,” she said while taking a break to stir her noodles, “Are you Kara Danvers the reporter or a friend?”

Kara mulled it over for a moment before responding.

“Friend, but this whole conversation is entirely off the record, of course,” Kara let a giggle slip out, “We’ll call it deep background.”

Lena was in no mood for humor. If Kara was getting into national security matters, they had to take this seriously.

“It’s bad.” She said and took a deep, calming breath; “The Taiwan Straight is probably one of the most dangerous places on earth. Tonight they’ve got four hundred thousand troops on high alert. China’s naval presence is unprecedented.”

“Would you ever ask Taiwan to call off the Patriot missile tests?”

“Would you?” Lena asked as she cocked her head to the side.

“I’m not the least bit qualified to make that decision.” Kara scoffed.

“Sure you are. You’re smart, observant, and intuitive.”

Kara looked at the chess board and thought about her options as a fictitious commander before responding. “…If China’s got their arsenal aimed at Taiwan, shouldn’t the island be able to defend themselves?”

“I agree, but you need to see the bigger picture.” Lena said motioning to the chessboard. “Perhaps the missile tests aren’t why China is showing their teeth.”

“What is it then?”

“By the end of the week, Taiwan’s going to announce they’re holding their first free elections.”

“You’re kidding.” Kara's eyes widened at the news.

Lena picked up her box of take out and pointed to Kara's side of the board with her chopsticks, “Always defend your queen.”

While Kara was staring at the board wondering how to maneuver her queen out of harm’s way, Jess came into the oval to give Lena a slip of paper. The President left for the situation room with a promise to return as Kara’s defensive strategy seemed to grow more and more futile.


	28. Chapter 28

It was around eight at night when Lena began their fourth game. She had stepped out a few times for the situation room and at least once to spend some time with Conner. The boy was pretty well spent after their long flight back from India, but when he woke up suddenly to request a bedtime story Lena couldn’t resist.

“This is a beautiful chess set.” Kara commented as she moved the tiny horse to the middle of the board—no, wait, the _knight_.

“It’s hand-carved soapstone.” Lena said, “It belonged to the Prime Minister’s grandfather.”

“I’m surprised he gave it away.”

“He didn’t,” Lena smirked, “I won it off him in a game of chess—or should I say several games; best three out of five.” Lena moved her bishop to counter. “He must’ve watched me play ten people before asking for a game. Definitely the toughest opponent I’ve faced in a long time.”

They exchanged a few moves before Kara moved the castle-tower-thing from it’s place in the corner.

“Ah, the Evans Gambit.”

“Okay, now I know you’re just making these names up.”

“It’s a variation on the Giuoco Piano sequence, named after a British sea captain, W.D. Evans, who invented it in 1820.”

“All I did was move the tower.”

“It's called the 'rook,' and it’s a very popular move.”

“I’m taking your bishop.” Kara said, “And you should be impressed I knew what that piece was called.”

“Take your time.” Lena chuckled, “See the whole board.”

“When you stepped out earlier, were you meeting with the Chinese ambassador?”

“Among other things.” Lena said.

“How did it go?”

“About as well as you might expect,” Lena reclined in her seat to wait out Kara’s next move. “They want me to scale back our missile sales to Taiwan.”

“You wouldn’t stop arming Taiwan, right? Especially now that they’re trying to hold free elections.”

“Indeed.”

Kara looked closely at Lena’s face trying to see any hint of the woman behind the mask. Not in her small smile, not tilt of her head, not even a raised eyebrow, just—there! Yup, it was all in the eyes.

“But you didn’t tell him that, did you?”

“You’re really showing me something tonight.” Lena deflected as she looked down to hide her face, “A lot of spunk in your games, a lot of heart.”

“You know what? Bite me. You’re just upset I figured out your tell.”

Lena gave her a challenging look—eyebrow and all—before moving her rook into place. “Check.”

“How did you get good at chess?” Kara asked as she glanced around the board for an escape route.

“Oh, are we on the record now?”

“Deep background, remember?” Kara said with a wink.

“The deepest.”

“You could at least try to keep it professional,” Lena let out a full belly laugh at Kara’s insinuation and nearly missed her follow-up, “It’s to help determine your character for the readers. I want to paint an accurate picture this time.” The last bit was barely a mumble, but Lena caught it all the same.

“As a young child I sat by my father’s knee…”

“Lena! For real, how did you get so good? Or is it just natural for a Luthor?”

“I had a friend in school that taught me, Andrew Davidson. He was good—probably one of the best in the world. Great guy, everyone seemed to like him.”

“Are you still close?” Kara moved her horse— _knight_ , knight! “Check.”

“We stayed friends through middle school, we both attended an Irish boarding school. I was in seventh grade; he was in eighth. He came home from school late one night—I had convinced him to stay and watch the school soccer match—anyway, he came home and his drunken father stabbed him to death. Check.”

Kara watched Lena’s eyes gloss over as she recalled the memory of her lost friend. She glanced toward the board that suddenly held new meaning for her. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.” She said in attempt to brush it aside, but Kara could see the pain in her expression and the tension in her neck.

“Madam President?” Unbeknownst to them, Jess had quietly entered the room behind Kara. “We need you in the situation room.”

“Check.” Lena said as she dropped her piece on the board and rose to her full height to smooth her worn shirt into place. “I’ll be right back, but don’t think you can cheat, Ms. Danvers.”

Kara gazed up to the deep green eyes of the President and felt as if the very ocean was speaking to her. The calm, cool demeanor the President often presented was merely a façade to comfort those who did not wish to see the deep turmoil lapping just beneath the surface.

“I know exactly where the pieces on the board are. I know exactly where the pieces are on Lex’s board. I know exactly where the pieces _still_ are on Andrew Davidson’s board.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

There was no doubt that if Lena wanted to she could easily drown Kara, or anyone else for that matter, without a second thought. Deep background, indeed.

-           -           -

Lena returned from her latest meeting in the situation room with a bottle of wine and a cheese board from the mess. It was nearly ten o’clock and both women were feeling their long days, but neither was willing to end their little meeting. There’s something to be said about the companionship of someone who was not yet a friend, but no longer an enemy.

“Sorry, I got tied up.”

“It’s fine. Not like you have a country to run or anything.”

“Let’s get back to it.” Lena said as she began to reset the board.

“Lena, can I ask _why_ you’re sending ships into the Taiwan Straight?” Kara picked at the snacks on the coffee table. “Wasn’t your goal to maintain a peaceful existence with China?”

“Look at the whole board.”

“I am—”

“You’re not.” She insisted as she picked up her own cluster of grapes. “Broaden your scope. It’s not just about Taiwan or their elections.”

“I’m trying!”

“Try harder.” Lena said with an amused laugh.

“Okay,” Kara sat up straighter and rubbed her temples as she went back over the details of the evening, “What do I know? We have ships in the Taiwanese Straight.”

“Hmm, do we?” Lena asked with a coy smile.

“They’re on their way.” Kara clarified with a bit of an annoyed wine in her voice. It was always about the details with this woman!

“Is that the same thing?” Lena asked, “You’re a reporter, so theoretically you should know the power of diction.”

Kara stared at the chessboard in front of her for a while. She tried to go over all the possible angles of the situation in Taiwan and what she knew about their trade relations with China.

“How does it end?”

At that moment, Jess knocked on the door and entered to deliver a slip of paper to Lena. The president smiled as she read the note and placed the folded piece of paper on the table between them.

“You tell me.” She said.

“China stands down, they don’t want to piss off a superpower.” Lena nodded and picked up her wine glass. “Taiwan gets to test their Patriot missile, but just the one.” More nodding from Lena as she stacked their dishes in preparation for her exit. “But we have to give China something.”

“We agreed not to sell Taiwan any missiles for a decade.”

“But, Madam President—”

“Lena.”

“Fine. Taiwan can’t afford to buy any more missiles to begin with. That was the whole point of them buying only two and testing one so they can manufacture their own…”

Kara petered off as realization finally dawned. “You were never going to sell them any missiles in the first place.”

“But everyone wakes up tomorrow morning alive and with their pride in tact.”

“How did you learn to do that? Predict people's actions before they even knew what they were going to do next.”

“I have a lot of help,” she responded, “I look at the whole board, and I have a lot of faith in the overall nature of human beings.”

Lena moved her queen to a space two blocks in front of Kara’s black king and stood up. “Checkmate. I have to make some calls and thank people.”

Kara nodded and stood to gather her things and help Lena move the dishes to Mike’s desk.

“I think we did much better with this interview, wouldn’t you say?” Lena asked with a hopeful smile.

Kara agreed and Jess led her to the lobby of the West Wing. They had a driver drop her off at the pizzeria around one in the morning and she sent a quick text to Maggie as soon as she was safe inside the empty apartment.

“I need more chess lessons.”


	29. Chapter 29

Kara couldn’t help but think the West Wing was rather quiet tonight. After that first night of chess, the President— _Lena_ , she kept having to remind herself—had invited her back for a game of chess every other night like clockwork. Well, after the second night, when Lena wasn’t jet-lagged and had her wits about her enough to realize that Kara was absolutely horrible at chess, they had switched to checkers.

Tonight she dropped by the mess to pick up some cookies for them to snack on. She had wanted to bake some homemade ones, but gave up after the fifth attempt. While she waited for the cashier to box up her cookies, she noticed someone familiar sitting at a nearby table overflowing with files and loose papers.

“Winn?” she asked.

“Huh?” he looked up from the screen and immediately jumped up to greet the blonde. “Hey! I heard little Danvers was working here for a little bit, but I never thought I’d actually get to see you. How’s it been?”

“It’s been a bit of an adventure so far,” she said, “do you mind if I sit with you?”

“Not at all, let me see if I can find you a space somewhere in here.” He rearranged a couple of piles so she could have a seat on the chair next to him.

It was a bit surreal for Kara to finally see Winn in person after all these years. Alex used to send her frequent updates on her L-Corp family back when she was the CEO’s bodyguard. They always featured the Winn and Jess, but Kara had never actually met them.

“Are you really doing the spotlight piece?”

“I’m trying,” Kara shrugged and adjusted her glasses. “Any hints on how to get the President talking?”

“I’ve never had a problem talking with Lena, but, then again, we’re complete nerds,” he laughed, thinking back on some memory of the former CEO before continuing, “Alex says we speak an entirely different language sometimes.”

“Alex would say something like that,” Kara thought about all the little things she had missed when her and her sister had their blow-up. There were so many things to relearn and sometimes it felt like she didn’t know her sister at all. She managed a smile for Winn, but apparently the pain was obvious on her face.

“Hey, things will get better,” he said, “especially since you’re living together now and not on opposite sides of the country.”

“Thanks,” Kara went to clean her glasses so she wouldn’t have to look at him when she said, “You’ve always been really nice to me, Winn. Especially after everything else that’s happened.”

“Ehh, you’re human just like us. The others will come around.”

“You don’t have to sugar-coat it for me, I know they won’t.”

“We’re used to living under a microscope and constantly being under fire—even back at L-Corp.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“It’s a bit like overcoming shock therapy for us. Maggie and Alex hit it off right from the start and then—bam! Clearly they’re breaking some unwritten rule about dating co-workers. Jess and her husband move into the residences—bam! Apparently they’re having an affair with the President. Lena saves Conner from her terrible mother and—bam! The press is all ‘She’s a cold-blooded killer. The kid is a thing not a person. The Luthor family is reducing our country to a monarchy.’”

Kara winced a little, “I think I wrote that last one.”

“I know,” He paused a bit to glance about the room before continuing, “You know, Lena was absolutely pissed when she found out Alex had shut you out after the article.”

“Really?” Kara was shocked to hear that the President even knew about their fight.

“Yeah, she had Alex placed on midnight garden watch until you two worked it out.”

“I didn’t think she knew I existed until James mentioned she had read the articles.”

“Kara, she loved what you wrote. Brought in copies for all of us to read too.”

-           -           -

After chatting with Winn for a bit they parted ways and she made her way to Jess’ office for her meeting with the President. She found the checkerboard already set up and the President halfway through a glass of wine.

“Good evening, Madam President.”

“Wrong, try again.” Lena said with a smile as she motioned for Kara to sit.

“I’m sorry. Good evening, _Lena_ ”

“Much better.” Lena handed her a glass of wine and waited for Kara to move her first piece.

“How was your day?” Kara asked as she moved a black piece.

“Terrible,” she said with a heavy sigh. “The foreign Ops bill came out of mark-up late last night and some cranky old men added an attachment called the global gag rule.”

“That’s when doctors who receive U.S. aid aren’t allowed to talk about abortion, right?”

“Correct.” Lena continued moving her pieces across the board almost recklessly. There were several mistakes that Kara easily took advantage of to gain the upper hand.

“Are you planning to veto?” She asked Lena.

“I should veto my own bill?”

“Maybe just the threat of a veto will make the more moderate senators insist that the attachment be taken off.”

“But if they don’t take it off then I have to veto,” Lena managed to get a single piece to the back of the board to be kinged. “Then 230 million people overseas don’t get the funding they need. 950 million dollars for child survival, 140 million for infectious diseases…”

“You’ve been beating back this attachment for years, is it maybe time to just figure out a work around instead of risking the veto?” Kara tried to focus her attention on the conversation at hand, but Lena’s hammer-to-anvil style assault on the board was distracting her.

“I have no options left.” Lena sat back against the couch as Kara looked over the board to figure out her next move. “Max Weber once said, ‘politics is the slow boring of hard boards.’”

Kara went to move her next piece only to realize that she had nowhere to go. Lena’s back row of red had not been touched at all, and, with all of the black pieces butted up against them, there was no where left for Kara to go. They were at an impasse.

“It means that change in politics,” Lena continued, “comes in excruciating increments. It takes a lifetime to move a mountain.”

“So what now?”

Lena laughed a bit and got up to refill her glass of wine and Kara followed.

“This is when I’m absolutely ashamed to say I let my son dictate foreign police.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kara scoffed, “He’s six years old.”

“All right,” Lena fixed her with a toying stare and gestured to the game board across the room, “prove you’re smarter than a six year old. How do we fix the bill?”

Kara slowly walked back over to the coffee table and circled the board to look at the predicament from a different angle. How do you monitor what a doctor says to a woman in Zimbabwe anyway?

“Could you cap the percentage of funding covered by the gag rule?”

“That’s one solution,” Lena walked back over to stand next to Kara as they looked at the board. “according to Winn there’s a sweet spot where they can still get all the funding they’ll need without having to worry about the gag rule, but it’s such an exact amount that everyone will know what we’re doing.”

“And what was Conner’s solution?” Kara turned to observe Lena’s profile light up when she thought about her son and his foolish antics.

“Playing checkers with a six year old is quite the experience,” she said and sat down to break out the chess set from under the coffee table. “He likes to change the rules.”

Kara sat across from her and watched as she carefully reset the board with bishops and rooks replacing some coins in the middle rows.

“You can’t change the foreign aid bill, it’s too close to change or remove anything without risking losing the votes you need…” Kara said as she connected the dots, “so you’re going to get more aggressive on the domestic side of things.”

“I’m moving family planning to a discretionary account so they can’t attach any terms and conditions. Now,” Lena said before fixing Kara with her signature raised brow, “where are those cookies Jess mentioned?”


	30. Chapter 30

“Alex, she’s driving me insane!”

Kara Danvers was complaining about her lack of traction with the President while her sister cleaned her service pistol in the break room. It always fascinated her how the White House could look so opulent while the secret service offices in the basement looked just like any other office building.

“You’re the one who didn’t think dating her would be a good idea.”

“It’s a conflict of interest, we’ve already been over this.”

“And here you are complaining about how difficult your job is when you probably could’ve been done by now.”

Kara picked up one of the bullets and spun it on the table to keep her hands busy while her mind wandered. It’s not like dating her would’ve helped the story—might’ve made it easier for Lena to talk to her, but still. There had to be a way to replicate their ease of communication at the state dinner without compromising her job.

“She was fine at the state dinner,” Kara thought aloud, “Why is this any different?”

“She’s probably holding back because you asked her to.”

“But I didn’t! Well, not about the spotlight piece, just about the flirting and stuff.”

“I don’t think she sees much of a difference.” Alex laughed as she began reassembling her gun. “What if you flirted back a little? Throw the ball back in her court; see what happens.”

Kara sat back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, it seemed like a good idea, but she wasn’t sure how to pull it off without leading Lena on.

“Wouldn’t that be mean?”

“Jesus Christ, Kara,” Kara made a mental note for the future to only bug her sister for advice _after_ she had trained the rookies. “She’s a grown woman, and she can definitely take care of herself.”

Okay, then, flirting with the President without actually trying to date her, she could do this, right? Totally within her wheelhouse...hopefully. Alex rose from the flimsy table and checked her utility belt and gear quickly while Kara gathered her bag. They headed out to the Lobby of the West Wing where their paths would diverge.

“Hey, have you eaten dinner?” Kara asked.

“Not yet.”

“I brought mine from home,” she smiled and whispered, “Left over pepperoni.”

“Sounds good,” Alex let out a small chuckle, “I’m surprised you haven’t—”

“I ate it already.”

“There it is.”

“Did you bring your dinner from home?” She asked with those big hopeful eyes.

“Kara, what the…?”

“Do you think you’ll be eating it?”

“You can’t have my dinner!”

With that, the siblings parted ways. Alex headed to the residences to take over the first shift of night duty for Conner while Kara made a beeline for the oval office.

-           -           -

When she arrived by Jess’ desk the woman simply waved her in without checking. Lena sat at the resolute desk signing what seemed to be an endless stack of papers. She glanced up briefly when Kara entered, but soon resumed her menial task.

“How is it my staff just lets you walk in here?”

“They seem to like me,” Kara said and went to pull over an armchair. “Well, except for Mrs. Grant.”

“My one true friend.”

“Do I have a secret service code name?” She decided to make herself comfortable considering the President was essentially stuck until the papers were signed.

“Probably, most of the staff have them. I suppose since you’ve been spending quite a bit of time here they assigned you one.” Lena looked up from her task with a confused tilt to her head. “Why do you ask?”

“I’ve heard some of the guards whisper, ‘Zephyr in oval.’ I'm just curious about your code name.”

“They change every so often.” Lena said with a clear sneer to her voice. Apparently she was not fond of her current assigned name.

“What’s today’s?” Kara insisted.

“Atlas.”

“I like it. It suits you.” She crossed her legs and watched as Lena’s pen paused briefly when she glanced at Kara before continuing it’s well-practiced loop. That was interesting knowledge. “Does that make the Vice President’s code name ‘Mars’ or something?”

Lena took a deep breath before stacking her signed pile of papers, “Lex is ‘Gaia,’ Jess is ‘Phoenix.’ Connor is ‘Helios.’ Those are the only ones I know off the top of my head.”

“The sun, how appropriate.” Kara took a brief break as she watched Lena organize her desk so it’d be spotless and ready to go for tomorrow morning. “I am, actually, here for work, and I have to ask you about the tanker.”

“I’m sorry?” Lena paused in her stacking and shuffling to look at Kara sitting in her armchair like she owned the place.

“The tanker in the Gulf. You stopped it and I was curious as to what happened.”

“It was a Cyprus-flagged oil tanker, but our intelligence tracked the ship leaving Turkey.” Lena was tired. She honestly didn’t have time to discuss the nuances of UN trade sanctions with Kara. Code names and light conversation she could do, but not much more after a fourteen-hour day.

“Right, and they had oil on board.”

“Yes, they did.” Lena finished cleaning her desk and made to leave the office, but paused when she realized Kara wasn’t following her.

“Are you going to have a serious discussion with me about this?”

Lena thought about it briefly before taking a deep breath and deciding to be blunt, “No.”

“No?”

“Not tonight, at least. It’s eight o’clock and I am officially off-duty. Today I saved twenty men from dying in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I negotiated a dispute between Egypt and Israel, and I saved a bunch of hostages in Columbia. The sun has set and I have earned my government salary and then some. I’m done working for the night.”

“I completely understand,” Kara said, and she really did. After all, in comparison what had she done today that could hold a candle for saving that many people? “I’ll see you tomorrow when you’re rested.”

Kara almost couldn’t believe how much smaller Lena looked after her immense sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Kara.”

She turned and walked out the door to the portico as Kara entered Jess’ office. The secretary actually looked up to greet her for once—probably thought it was Lena to be honest.

“Jess, what can I bribe you with to earn a favor?”


	31. Chapter 31

After her situation room meeting with the joint chiefs at a truly god-awful hour of the morning, Lena decided to continue and hopefully get a head start on her Friday. Now that the hostages were safely in transit, she mentally winced at her poor treatment of Kara from the night before. It’s not like she wasn’t justified in her temperament considering what all was on her plate yesterday, but still. It seemed like the reporter was brushing up on the bills and congressional reports to stay in the loop on everything going on at the White House. She had even heard a rumor that Kara frequently stole interns to explain the latest happenings to her.

Jess was, as per usual, hidden behind her desk already diligently working on the overnights while Mike attempted to get her hourly portfolios organized.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Morning, Madam President,” Mike responded as he handed her a stuffed portfolio from the top of the pile and returned to his sorting.

“Good morning, Ma’am,” Jess got up from her chair and walked into the oval office behind Lena to go over the major events of today’s schedule. “At noon you have a meeting with the East Asia team at eleven, Medicare at noon, and senior staff at two. You’ve also got Brennan and Landis in the Roosevelt room at seven.”

“There’s no way we could just cancel…oh, let’s say all of that?” Lena practically threw her portfolio on the couch and immediately sought out the hidden coffee trolley at the front of the room.

“Very funny, Madam President.” Jess turned to leave and called out the last of her news for the morning rundown. “And you have a meeting with Ms. Danvers. She’s waiting in Cat’s office.”

As Jess fled the room, Lena walked over to Cat’s office door and unceremoniously threw it open to find the blonde woman sitting in the visitor’s chair reading yet another report. If she didn’t know better she would’ve thought Kara worked here with all the research she’d been doing recently.

“I have an appointment with you?” she asked.

“I decided to see you during your business hours.” Kara called cheerfully as they made their way back to the oval office couches.

“How did you even _get_ an appointment?”

“I know a guy who knows a guy.” She shrugged.

“Kara.”

“Good morning.”

“You made an appointment?”

“All nice and business-like.” Kara responded while pulling out a notepad with some facts and figures scrawled on it. “Yesterday you stopped a Cyprus-flagged oil tanker named ‘Kalipso.’ You thought it might be carrying petroleum products out of Iraq in violation of UN sanctions.”

Lena couldn’t stop the beaming smile and soft laughter from escaping. Of course Kara would be back to discuss her findings the next morning—during working hours—just as Lena requested. Apparently she had been worrying all morning over nothing seeing as Kara wasn’t the least bit angry about the incident.

“Yes, we boarded the ship, tested the oil, and determined its point of origin to be—wait for it—Iraqi.”

“And the company got fined.”

“Yes.” Lena reminded herself to be patient knowing when their conversation was headed. Why did she always end up crushing on the endlessly optimistic ones?

“But they still get to sell the oil.”

Lena took a delicate sip of her coffee before responding “And the profits of the sale, unfortunately, exceed the fine.”

“It dramatically exceeds the fine! If you’re going to have sanctions, have sanctions. There should be genuine disincentive!”

“I agree.”

“Wait, what?” While Kara tried to regroup, Lena continued her explanation. “780,000 metric tons of oil sold in a friendly port against a measly two million dollar fine. If we’re going to have sanctions at all, I think we should make them stick. I wanted to seize the ship, confiscate the cargo, sell the oil, and use the money to beef-up anti-smuggling operations.”

“Why can’t you?”

“It’s not very nice.” She turned from the reporter to look over the various memos in her portfolio.

“Lena.”

“How did you get an appointment again?”

“I know people.”

“You moved to Washington six months ago.” She sniggered.

“I convinced someone I’d make your day better with my sunny disposition.”

All right, time to set it up, Luthor.

“I thought you didn’t want to take advantage of the situation by dating me.”

Kara’s cheeks burned and her rather hysterical laughter and attempt to brush off Lena’s comment simply proved her hypothesis correct.

“I call it like I see it.” Lena pressed.

“We’re not dating.”

“That’s kind of sad for you, isn’t it?” Lena glanced at Kara over the rim of her coffee mug and was not disappointed to see the reporter completely flummoxed. Her embarrassed blush had even spread to the tips of her ears and the base of her neck—wait, get your eyes away from there, Luthor.

“Why didn’t you just seize the oil?” Kara asked once she regrouped.

“It’s something that would be frowned upon by the vast majority of the countries that we have to deal with on a daily basis. Besides, they’re UN sanctions, not American ones.”

Lena finished organizing the overnights and started packing her satchel for the first round of meetings while Kara continued talking.

“So, because some of our businesses might buy some of that oil one day we can’t seize the cargo even though 200 sovereign nations thinks it’s a great idea. What kind of a free world are you running, Lena?”

It sounded like an insult, but even the President could hear the playful laughter in her voice.

“I really don’t know yet, Kara, it’s not even noon.” Lena threw over her shoulder with an honest to god giggle as she turned to exit the oval through the chief of staff’s office. Since when did Lena Luthor _giggle_?

“Have a great day, Madam President!” she called.

Outside the oval, Kara ignored Mike’s bug-eyed stare and stood in front of Jess’ desk.

“Did I just hear the President laugh?” the secretary asked, “And at eight in the morning?”

“Told you I was good for morale,” Kara winked. “But I need to ask for another favor.”

“You’re going to go bankrupt when I cash these in, you do know that, right?”


	32. Chapter 32

James had just finished his post-briefing conference with Maggie when Kara knocked on his office door.

“Do you have a minute to talk?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

James was her biggest supporter, not much of a supporter at all, really, but he had recently been making an effort to at least talk to her without losing his cool.

“I was wondering who I could talk to about the CARE bill.” She asked with the ghost of a smile. She wasn’t his biggest fan either, but if he was making an effort, so should she.

“Well, you knocked on the right door,” James said leaning back in his chair to steeple his long fingers. “That’s my bill.”

“Oh, um…okay.” Kara slowly walked into the office fidgeting with her notepad. “I had a few questions about some of the changes in the bill.”

“All right, shoot.” James offered her the comfy armchair facing his desk.

“The White House announced that it was going to support the bill at a 10% reduction in emissions, but the bill was introduced with a 20% reduction.”

“I didn’t hear a question in here, Ms. Danvers.” James’s words seemed harsh, but his smile put Kara at ease.

“It’s just that… America is the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide.”

“Yes, well we do have four percent of the world’s population.”

“But your report says we’re responsible for…” Kara pulled out a copy of the report and leafed through it to find the correct number. James leaned over the desk to get a look at his report with numerous notes in the margins. “25% of the world’s greenhouse emissions.”

“That’s why we want to past the Clear Air Rehabilitation Effort. Under these regulations there will be a cap on the volume of CO2 a company can emit a year, but there are cash incentives for good behavior.”

“How are the cash incentives good for the environment if they can just sell off the remaining CO2 volume? That would mean the same amount of CO2 gets emitted, just by a larger number of companies.

“Do you know how much a fire truck weighs?” James asked as he booted up his computer to get a digital copy of the bill in front of him.

“How is this relevant?”

“Thirty-five _thousand_ pounds.” He continued. “I once pulled one for a hundred yards during the election for some stupid stunt, but do you want to know the trick?”

“Not really, but I bet you’re gonna tell me.”

“You have to take lots of small steps. Try to take big steps and there will be a lapse in the forward motion and the truck will eventually stop—that’s if you manage to get it moving in the first place—”

“Get to the point, James.”

“Baby steps.” He said looking her in the eye. “I’m not trying to patronize you. I’m just explaining why we have to do things a little counter-intuitively. It’s the constant forward momentum that’s important, not the distance from the starting line.”

Kara took a minute to let that piece of information sink in, and she jotted down a few notes before continuing.

“Since we’re off the deep end and discussing random conversations, can I tell you about mine with Lori Fomenko?”

“Sure, who’s that?” James was pleasantly surprised with how well this conversation was going. Maybe they were fixing this whole bad blood thing between them.

“She’s a hydroclimatologist from the USGS.”

“A hydro-what now?” James quickly schooled his features so Kara wouldn’t see his bewilderment.

“We ate breakfast in the mess together this morning.” Kara continued.

“She’s probably here to work on the language of the—”

“She had some very interesting things to say about Alaska,” Kara said while producing an entire page of notes from the back of her book and handing them over to James, “average temperatures have risen seven degrees in the last thirty years causing glaciers to shrink and lakes to form. This also puts pressure on the existing lakes forcing them to overflow their natural limits, which is what happened late last night at Lake Orchid and fourteen people were killed—not spotted owls or caribou, James, _people_.”

“I, wait… you know, h-hold on. All right. Start from the beginning, actually, give me a minute.”

James rose from his desk and called to his assistant from the doorway. “Clint, can you find a Lori Fomenko and bring her to my office?”

Kara sat there a little confused as James made his way back to the desk and got a pad ready to take down some notes of his own. “Okay, start from the beginning.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either, but we’re doing this.”

“Okay… Are you going to eat that muffin?”

“Take the muffin.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Kara Danvers was definitely something different to experience. “Start from the beginning.”

-           -           -

Nearly five hours later, Kara found herself following behind the giant communications director as he would his way through the West Wing. They were inside the chief of staff’s office before Kara even realized where they were going in the first place.

“What do you have?” she asked without even glancing away from the stack of papers and binders strewn across her desk.

“We should back the original draft of the CARE bill that’s coming up to vote in the Senate tomorrow. It would help reduce the carbon footprint from vehicle exhaust and it would hold businesses responsible for their own CO2 emissions.”

“Didn’t we put out a statement about this already? I thought you wanted to go the other way on this?”

“I thought we should recommend it at 10% reduction of emissions instead of 20%, but I got turned around.”

“You’ve got research on this?”

“A hydroclimatologist named Lori Fomenko is sending a condensed report to your office tonight.”

“Okay, thanks.”

James nodded and made to leave Cat’s office.

“Wait, hold up, I just—” Kara started.

“Come on, Kara,” he said as he ushered her out of the office and down the hallway.

“What just happened back there?” she asked with wide eyes.

“Cat said yes so it’s done. 20% just like you wanted.”

“I don’t understand, she said glancing around at the people speeding through the bullpen outside James’ office. “What just happened?”

“You convinced me, I convinced Cat, and she’ll convince the President.” He said with a smile. “It’s as good as done.”

“I was just talking, James.” Kara’s eyes began to have that panicked look about them. “I was just proving a point. I didn’t mean for you to change an entire bill.”

“Well, we play with live ammo around here.” James said as he clapped her on the back. “It’s a short day and a big country and we have to move fast to get anything done.”

“Is this how you guys decide to go to war?” Kara was glancing around the bullpen like a deer caught in the headlights. In that moment she reminded James of his own first days on the job.

“I don’t know how that decision is made, actually. I’m normally not in the room when that conversation happens. I just write the speech when the President tells the Nation we’re at war.”

Kara swallowed a nodded trying to wrap her head around the fact that she just influenced national policy. James couldn’t help but chuckle at her expression. He definitely remembered those days.

“You did something great today, Kara, be happy about it. I have to go back to work now, but you’ll be all right?”

“Y-yeah,” she stammered, “I’ll be fine. No worries.”


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: This chapter deals with gun violence. Please skip to the end notes for a quick summary if you need to!

Maggie always enjoyed the morning briefings—even on the weekends. Rarely anything happens between midnight and nine in the morning so she’s able to take her time, include jokes, answer random questions, stuff that continually builds the President’s image as an affable leader who’s down to earth.

She had been at the podium for half an hour when she noticed the standing-room only networks in the back packing up to leave for the day. Normally the major networks and papers were able to leave one or two people there for the day, but the smaller media outlets had to pick and choose their briefings.

“That’s a full lid for today, everyone,” she announced, “I’ll see you at two for the lunch update if there’s anything new.”

At that moment, her secretary ran over to the podium and whispered something in her ear while handing her a thin stack of index cards.

“Hang on a second!” she called to the room.

A few of the more experienced reporters sat back down with worried looks anticipating an emergency briefing. When Maggie got off schedule it was only ever very good or very bad, but with the way her face was blanching it could only mean something terrible had happened. The reporters watched as she glanced through the stack of cards and quickly organized her thoughts.

“Okay, today around nine o’clock,” she took a calming breath before continuing, “two gunmen opened fire at First Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.”

The briefing room exploded with questions and reporters calling for her attention. Maggie took the secure cell phone and Bluetooth ear bud offered by her secretary.

“I’m going to have to listen in while I talk to you.” She quickly jotted some notes on the back of a card as the information was relayed to her, “The high school track team, the Grainger Wildcats…they were holding conditioning practice at a nearby track during the church service—it was the coach who called the local law enforcement. Right now, details are still being hammered out, but it’s looking like 35 people are dead and over 60 injured with 15 of those critical.”

Maggie took a deep breath as she processed the information herself. There was no way today was going to end well.

“I’ll try to answer your questions the best I can while I wait for another update. Mark, then Crystal.”

-           -           -

Kara sat at the pizzeria fiddling with the tiny chess set that Maggie had picked up for her last week. Apparently if you were going to play chess with the President of the United States every other night, you had to learn the rules sooner than later. Lena jokingly threatened to kick Kara out of the White Hose until she learned the names of all the pieces at the very least.

The rook could move like a wall, but the knight could only do funny jumps, and the queen was important somehow. She glanced at her ‘How To’ book for the thousandth time willing the information to enter her brain through osmosis. There had to be another way to get the President to open up to her like that first night. Not that there was anything wrong with their subsequent interviews and Alex’s flirting idea, but they just weren’t as… what was the word, revealing? No, that sounded hinky. Educational? Well, that’s just not true, she always learned something at their meetings.

And it’s not like she wasn’t seeing more of her sister’s side of things now that she was talking with the President on a regular basis. It’s just that there was some obvious piece that she was missing before, but she still didn’t have yet. Like a jigsaw that was missing ten center pieces…all in the same spot…and there was no picture to reference.

“God, why would someone do that?” Alonzo Di Nublia said to himself as he watched the television.

Kara looked to the screen and saw Maggie’s pale face and shaking hands as she described the massacre at Charlotte that morning. They had mentioned the President giving a formal address to the nation, but this would be the second time they pushed it back. What was taking so long? It’s not like it would be particularly difficult to get up there, say the boys were wrong to even own guns, apologize to the families of the victims, and leave.

She checked the time on her phone and realized she hadn’t gotten a cancellation message from the White House yet, but maybe they forgot? As Maggie announced the speech would be pushed back yet another hour, Kara made up her mind and texted Alex.

_Can you get me into the oval? I should still be on the schedule for tonight._

She waited with baited breath as the three blinking dots kept jumping on her screen, but when the reply came it was succinct and to the point:

_I can get you to Jess. The rest is on you._

Well, if she wasn’t skating on thin ice already with her most recent antics, what she had planned next might just cause her to be banned from the White House entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important Points:  
> -Maggie has difficultly with a press conference  
> -Kara is frustrated with the White House's handling of the situation  
> -Alex agrees to sneak her into the White House  
> -Kara is planning something that might put her back on Lena's bad side


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: This chapter deals with gun violence. Please skip to the end notes for a quick summary if you need to!

In the oval office, Cat watched Lena pacing in front of the desk. She had removed her heels after the first five minutes, but Cat was beginning to worry about the President’s ability to actually get through tonight’s speech. It was always the shootings that had Cat worried about the President and her staff.

“You’ll have to say something, Lena.” James had been working all afternoon drafting and scrapping the emergency presidential address. “They need to hear your voice. They just need to know the world isn’t being torn apart at the seems.”

“You think there’s something I can get up there and say that’ll make sense of two guys walking into a packed church with the sole intent of shooting a bunch of people in a state that champions the right to own guns?”

The President was definitely still on the anger side of things and Cat could hear the steady elevation in her voice. She made a mental note to have Jess and some agents check in with the President tonight when the anger broke and the depression set in.

“I’m not saying you have to say the right thing,” James continued, “which doesn’t exist anyway, but you do have to say something from the heart. I think that’s why you’re rejecting everything I write.”

“Nobody wants to hear what’s in my heart right now, James.”

“I do.”

The three occupants turned to the new voice in the room to find Kara Danvers waiting patiently by Jess’ door to the oval office. Dammit, she had forgotten to cancel the blogger’s standing after-hours chess game with the President.

“Ms. Danvers, I’m sorry,” Cat began, “I meant to call about the change in schedule for this evening. I’m sure you can understand given this morning’s events.”

“I figured we wouldn’t be playing chess, but I came over because Maggie has delayed your address to the nation twice now.”

“I don’t understand why you’d think that gives you permission to—”

“Why won’t you condemn these guys?”

Cat took a physical step back when Kara interrupted her. Even James was shocked by the reporter’s sudden bravado. Apparently she had been quite emboldened by her meetings with the President.

“Don’t you have a crime bill in Congress right now?” Kara continued speaking only to Lena as if she had forgotten that James and Cat were even still in the room.

“You know, for being so anti-gun, I’m surprised you all haven’t fixed this problem for me by now.” Lena’s combative voice cut through the room like ice. “The NRA has about a million members, but if you bring a million and one people to the next meeting to call a vote it’d be done already.”

“Two boys—they were barely nineteen—bought guns legally, loaded them, drove from Raleigh to Charlotte, and until they opened fire in that church they had yet to ever commit a crime.” Kara had clearly done her research. Apparently she was a quick study when it came to arguing with the President. “I am so off-the-charts tired of the gun lobby tossing around words like ‘personal freedom’ and you won’t even call them out on it!”

“By all means, let’s hear your simple solution, Kara.” Lena walked towards the reporter and spoke to her with such malice in her voice the Cat was worried she’d have to call the secret service in to break up a fight. “It’s not like half the country wants to own guns. It’s not like there aren’t countless people telling me that five high school kids might’ve been spared if someone in the church had a gun. It’s not like I’ve never been shot at myself before!”

“Yeah, my sister took those bullets for you, Madam President.” Kara was pulling zero punches tonight, but Cat had to give her credit; she knew exactly where to hit Lena to do the most damage. “Gun’s aren’t about personal freedom, and they certainly have nothing to do with safety!”

The two women stood barely a foot apart in the middle of the oval office, both seething and trembling with rage. Even while being shorter than her, Lena still managed to make Kara seem like the smallest person in the room.

“It’s just that some people like guns.” Kara practically spat to the Commander in Chief.

“Yes, they do.” If possible the tension in the room grew tenfold as Lena let herself unleash all the pent-up rage from the day on the unsuspecting reporter.

Lena’s was a quite rage, something that slid into your brain like a lullaby and then poisoned you from within before you realized what was happening. It was the kind of rage than grabbed your heart in a vice and slowly watched you suffocate. Cat could practically see the moment Kara stopped breathing before her eyes widened in realization of what was about to happen.

“And I can understand that, if not for a brilliant surgical team and two tenths of a miracle, your sister would’ve died trying to save my life, but what I find more insidious than people liking guns is your misguided hatred. Your desire to ban all firearms doesn’t have anything to do with public safety, nor personal freedoms. You simply don’t like people who like guns, and, even though I agree with you, my biggest obstacle in succeeding always seems to be dealing with people like _you_.”

“People like _me_?” Kara asked and took a step back from the President. She briefly wondered if she had pulled another Clark and pushed too far.

“You don’t like people who like guns. You don’t like _the people_ , Kara!” Lena’s voice cracked in her plea to get the reporter to understand. “Now, I may vehemently disagree with them on this particular issue, but they’re still _my people_. Do you get that? They’re still citizens of this nation that I’ve sworn to protect to the best of my ability whether they agree with me or not. I’m the one who has to walk the edge between what I know to be right and what the people want because I’m not some anointed queen.”

“But,” Kara was quiet now and Cat could see that the poison was quickly working its way through her mind. “If you know what’s right why can’t you just _do_ it?”

“Because that’s not how a democracy works,” Lena said as she turned away and stepped into her shoes by the Resolute desk, “I think we can all agree that the last time someone assumed to know what was best for the entire country it ended quite poorly.”

Lena threw her blazer on over her dark blue dress and brushed past Kara, who was still rooted to the spot, on her way out the door. At the last moment she turned to deliver a final blow.

“Presidents cannot not rule; they can only serve.”

Kara’s eyes widened as she watched the President leave for the live address followed by her chief of staff and communications director. She remained standing in the oval staring at the empty doorway until Jess came in to usher her to the East Room. Only one thought was going through her mind the entire time—one crystal-clear realization that would undoubtedly keep her from sleeping for at least the next few days.

The President had her articles memorized.

-           -           -

As she stepped onto the brightly lit stage of the East Room, Lena gazed at the crowd of reporters in front of her. They had been waiting all afternoon for her to step up and say something meaningful, but as she read James’ speech aloud from the prompter she couldn’t help but think it was all wrong. This isn’t what they came here tonight to hear. A call to end gun violence isn’t something that would soothe and the comfort the families of the victims.

Halfway through the second paragraph she paused to take a breath, but stopped when she saw Kara’s stony face in the shadows of the left wing. As she resumed her speech without truly hearing she looked out at the blank faces of the reporters. This was exactly what Kara had been telling her in the oval. The families didn’t need her hollow words of right and wrong, and they certainly didn’t nee her using this as an opportunity to blast the nation for gun ownership. She stopped talking to look once more at Kara who had written the number 5 on front of her binder so it’d be visible to Lena as the blonde clutched it to her chest like armor. There were a few camera shutters that brought Lena back to the awkward silence in the room before her.

“My brother once told me, ‘the true measure of a nation’s strength is how they rise to face an unprovoked assault on their freedoms and way of life.’”

She took a deep breath and placed her hands on the edges of the podium before continuing.

“Forty people are dead tonight as a result of the shooting in Charlotte, and I’m sure you can get more information from Ms. Sawyer and the State Department, but tonight I want to talk about five members of the local high school track team. Two have passed while the rest remain in critical condition, and sadly one will be lucky to make it through the night. After hearing the gunshots at the church next to their practice field, these young men and women ran into the building to help get people out. They ran _into_ the building.”

As she felt the words build fall into place within her mind, she noticed that the entire tone of the room had shifted. This was the stage she was used to, an audience that didn’t want to be placated or talk down to like petulant children. They wanted to know that their families and their children were going to be okay, that future generations wouldn’t have to go through this pain and loss. But they all knew better.

“The victims of tonight’s events are everyone to us; they’re our teachers, our students, our parents, and our children. Every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look to the next generation and are reminded that our capacity may well be limitless. It is to these students that we look tonight, these true American heroes. This is their time. They will do what is hard. They will achieve what is great. They will run past us and glance back wondering why we ever stopped.”

Lena observed the crowd once more, watching heads nodding along to her words. She saw the cameramen with their faces trained on her instead of their viewfinders. A reporter in the front row hadn’t noticed that her pen had fallen to the floor. Another had silent tears rolling down his face. Even James looked too moved to be mad at her.

“And it is our job, as guardians of that next generation, to help them on their way to greatness. This is a time for American heroes, and we must reach for the stars as one or we shall all succumb to the darkness in our hearts.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important Points:  
> -Lena and James argue over her emergency presidential address  
> -Kara busts in and gets into a huge fight with the President  
> -Lena reveals that she took Kara's criticisms in her infamous articles to heart  
> -Lena stumbles through a bad speech  
> -Kara pushes her to give a heart-felt speech, which she does


	35. Chapter 35

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

Alex now understood how Josef felt in _The Trial_. Dammit, she should’ve paid better attention in her college English classes. This was the trial that would never end.

“She never mentioned the incident to her campaign managers?”

“Not that I’m aware of, sir.” Alex drawled, her disinterest must’ve shown through her words because Congressman Varley decided to press her for answers.

“Well, then,” he said, “I’d like to ask you this: if she _had_ told senior staff about the circumstances regarding her son, would you still have thought it was a good idea that she run for President?”

“I never said I thought it was a good idea for her to run in the first place.” Alex took in the looks of shock spreading across the panel of judges. “Don’t forget, Mr. Varley, my primary objective is protecting Lena Luthor and her son. I would much prefer it if the entire Luthor family stayed in bed all day watching TV. But to answer your question; I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, I suggest you think about it and try answering.” Varley snapped at her.

Alex sat back a bit in her chair and covered the microphone with her hand as she turned to Maggie.

“Listen,” she whispered, “I’m going to talk a little and you’re gonna nod your head and say something back to me.”

Maggie leaned in closer to Alex and asked, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Hey, you’re pretty good at this,” she smiled at the brunette, “you ever thought about becoming a secret agent?”

“No, Alex, I’m really asking here.”

“I think Varley’s being a little shit,” she tilted her head to the man in question, “so he’ll have to wait, and he’ll have to wait with the cameras on us.”

“Ms. Danvers.” Varley called from his place up on that high horse.

Alex leaned back into the microphone. “One second, please.”

“Listen,” she continued, turning back to face Maggie, “what are you doing for lunch?

“I don’t know.” Alex had to give the woman credit. Normally it took much less time for people to look at her with the confused, puppy-dog look. Apparently Lena had warned her about Alex before she sent her into this mad house.

“I was thinking maybe we could have lunch together,” Alex said, “I’d even sit down and everything.”

Maggie shook her head with a bemused smile, “Alex, you have to answer his question.”

Alex gave her a shit-eating grin in exchange and turned her attention back to the balding idiot.

“Congressman, could you repeat the question, please?”

Varley turned so red Alex was worried that he was about to bust a vein.

“If Lena Luthor had told her senior staff about her involvement in the death of her mother, Lillian Luthor,” he sad through gritted teeth, “would you still have thought it was a good idea for her to run?”

“Yeah, I’m not senior staff so I don’t know what they would’ve thought.” Alex literally waved off the question with her hand as she took off her leather jacket. “But I can tell you right now that I didn’t want her to run for Governor and I certainly never wanted her to run for President.”

“And why’s that?” he asked.

At this point Alex turned deadly serious. If he wasn’t going to let go of that bone, she was gonna shove it down his throat.

“Because you could not _possibly_ comprehend the depth of my love for Lena and Connor Luthor. And I’m absolutely terrified that someday sacrificing my life will not be nearly enough to protect either one of them.”

Alex didn’t need to have superhero abilities to hear the thunderous chorus of applause and cheers coming from the mob outside the courthouse. She watched with a satisfied grin as Congressman Varley lifted his water with a shaking hand for a drink before yielding the floor. Check and mate, next?

-           -           -

Ten congressmen later and they were still at it. Given the option she definitely would’ve chosen the Kafka’s Instruction Judge—at least then she might’ve had some fun with the whole thing.

“And with that, the chairman recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.”

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.” Congressman Erickson began, “And I’d like to complement you on the leadership of this committee.”

Oh, yes, a round of applause for the man with the antlers. This was getting ridiculous and Alex could barely focus long enough to even hear the questions, let alone answer with her mouth in check.

“Now, Ms. Danvers, you’re familiar, are you not, with article III, section 1, clause 5 of New York self-defense law?”

Alex turned to her lawyer again with her hand on the microphone. “We’re going to have to do this again.”

“He’s being shitty too?”

“Yup.” Alex made a popping nose as she answered. She looked around the room briefly in an attempt to seem nonchalant before asking, “So, I was thinking maybe, you know… dinner?”

“You listen to me, Danvers. I don’t like this.” Maggie’s eyes held a bit of fire Alex had seen earlier that morning, “Lena is paying me $650 an hour so save your ass. Now, you need to tell me what this is all about so I can do my job.”

“What would I have to say to convince you I only need tell you _some_ things?”

“I don’t know, but you’ll have to do it to another lawyer.”

“Well, if we’re talking about _doing_ _it_ already…” Alex smirked at Maggie whose jaw had nearly hit the floor at the innuendo. “So that’s a no for dinner?”

“This isn’t a game, Alex, I’m not fucking around.”

Alex decided to let that joke pass with a wink for now as she turned back to the Congressman.

“Yeah, I know the law.”

-           -           -

And now we arrive at the main event… five fucking hours later. Why go through all the bullshit when everyone knows this is the only speaker that mattered in the first place? Alex straightened her back and leaned her elbows against the table, ready to jump headlong into battle.

“The Chair recognizes the gentlemen from California, Mr. Kent.”

She glanced at Maggie one last time before Kent began his questioning, which was apparently the wrong move because the high-strung lawyer immediate sat up to pay close attention to the Congressman’s inquiries.

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman.” He began. God, she hated that man, what she wouldn’t give to have five minutes alone in the ring with him; 6’2”, maybe 260…yeah, she’d wipe the floor with his ass.

“I’d like to take you back to Halloween in Metropolis. Lena Luthor is the first-time Governor of New York and has just announced her reelection campaign at an L-Corp party.”

Alex barely had time to collect her thoughts before there was a sudden burst of activity from beside her.

“Mr. Chairman,” Maggie interrupted, “I’d like to request a short recess.”

“We just got back from a recess.”

“Sir, we have taken breaks at the request of nearly every member of this Committee while the witness has asked for a total of none.”

Alex watched as the Chairman looked to Ms. Lane for a nod before answering.

“We’ll take a short break. Please keep it to less than 30 minutes, everyone.”

She turned back just in time to watch helplessly as Maggie grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the courtroom with a curt, “Come with me.”


	36. Chapter 36

It was a light Thursday morning when Kara used her second favor from Jess to get an appointment with the President. Jess even let her into the oval office to wait for the President this time. Not that she had to wait long. As she had gotten to know Lena better, Kara realized that anything earlier than seven would be near suicidal and not a very productive meeting at all.

 **“** Back again, Ms. Danvers?” Lena asked as she entered her office. “The walls have ears, you know, and with all these appointments people might start to talk.”

Kara was almost taken aback by the President’s wink, but she had been building up a fairly nice tolerance to Lena’s coy antics over the past few weeks.

“The Fraud prevention and employee amendment.” Kara said.

Lena let out a heavy sigh as she sat on ‘her’ side of the coffee table with two mugs of coffee.

“Kara, half of America’s workforce is employed by small businesses. That’s fewer than a hundred workers per owner.”

“I know what a small business is, Lena.”

“Then you should know that a lot of them fail; about one third. Not because of rent hikes, or big businesses squeezing them out, but because of…” Lena offered her hand to Kara indicating she should know the answer to this.

Kara rolled her eyes at the President’s cheeky mood this morning. “Employee fraud.”

“Bingo!” Lena tossed a chocolate kiss to the reporter for her coffee.

“I can’t believe I’m listening to a member of the one percent, and a Luthor no less, tell me the _government_ should run background checks into peak business…” She paused with her cup in the air as if realizing something for the first time. “Now that I think about it, I can’t believe I’m listening to you at all, actually.”

“Not to let the facts interfere with a good story,” Lena powered on, “but numerous studies show that fraudulent employees are three times more likely to be married, four times more likely to be a man, sixteen times more likely to be in managerial positions or above, and five times more likely to have post graduate degrees. Not to mention that over eighty percent of violators are white."

Kara merely stared at Lena for a good couple of seconds, completely unimpressed. If Lena was going to be coquettish, then so was she.

“Wow.”

“What?” Lena said before taking a sip of her coffee.

“For a woman who’s trying to get a date, that was pretty rude.”

Kara had to hold in her laughter as Lena nearly spat her coffee all over the overnight memos.

“Hold on, these are office hours where I’m the President,” she said reaching for her napkin, “If I’d known I was working on that I would have had a whole different attitude.”

Kara was spared an immediate response—which was splendid considering she didn’t actually have one—as Jess walked in to the room.

“Madam President, your meeting with Goldman and Skinner of the Commerce Committee has been rescheduled for two o’clock.”

“Thank you, Jess.” Lena called as Jess left the room.

“You cancelled a meeting with the Commerce Committee to argue with me?” Kara blurted in her shock.

“Yes.” Lena answered with a confused look on her face. Like it was everyday the President blew off the Commerce Committee to low-key flirt with a reporter!

“But—why?”

“You made an appointment.” Lena shrugged.

“But, it’s the Com—!

“Kara,” Lena interrupted as she put down her portfolio to look her in the eye, “when you flirt with me, are you doing it for the spotlight feature?”

“No.”

“Then why _are_ you doing it?”

“To flirt with you.”

“I don’t believe you.” Lena said crossing her arms.

“I know,” Kara shrugged, “but that’s your problem.”

Kara fidgeted with the handle of her coffee mug while Lena watched her with careful eyes.

“Have dinner with me.” She finally said.

“What?” Kara asked completely taken aback.

Lena gathered her portfolio together in preparation to leave.

“Have dinner with Conner and I tonight.”

Kara rose with the President from the couch while trying to protest. “Madam President—”

“Come on, Kara. It’s fajita night, how presidential can that be?” Lena returned her own mug to the trolley and headed to Jess’ office.

“Seven-thirty!” she called over her shoulder as she disappeared. Kara stood suddenly alone in the oval office trying to figure out what just happened and how her bluff could’ve gone so… right? —No, definitely wrong… very wrong… She need to talk to Alex, like, now.

-           -           -

“Well, this outta be good.” Alex called from her place on the practice mat after honest-to-goodness pile driving a grown man six inches taller than her. “What’d she do, try to kiss you or something?”

Kara forced a chuckle to appease her sister, which really seemed to get her attention.

“Oh my god, she didn’t!”

“No, of course not!” Kara was quick to correct. “She, uh… she asked me to dinner, well, more like _ordered_ me to dinner, but not really, and—”

Kara was interrupted by Alex’s ruckus laughter.

“Alex, this is serious!” Kara pleaded.

“Yeah, okay.” Alex said as she motioned for the next combatant to try their luck.

“I can’t go to dinner with her,” Kara said, then in a whisper added, “and _her son_.”

“Whoa, there, keep your hands up, scooter,” Alex said to her opponent. A good roundhouse kick to the face gave her a few minutes to respond to Kara. “Unless you’ve suddenly forgotten to eat, you’ll be fine.”

“I’m not going.” She deadpanned.

“Why not?” Alex asked as the man returned to tackle her from behind. Kara watched as her sister put up a half-baked attempt at getting out of his bind.

“It’s not going to work.” Kara mumbled hoping Alex wouldn’t catch it.

Her sister made short work of the man by flipping him over her hip onto the mat.

“What, exactly, isn’t going to work?” she asked. No such luck, apparently.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“You and Lena?”

“Yes!” Kara whispered in a panic as she glanced about the gym.

“Kara, this is the Secret Service gym, we’re trained to be discrete.” Alex scoffed as she walked off the mat to get a drink by her sister. “Why is it not going to work?”

“Because! She's, well, you know,” Kara flailed her arms trying to telepathically communicate her mental struggle, “and I’m...me.”

“I think I know what you’re saying, but I don’t think the problem is that you’re a reporter and she’s—for lack of a better term—your subject matter.” Alex explained as she toweled off her cropped hair. “I think the problem is that you’re stupid.”

Kara just stared open-mouthed at her sister for a bit before responding. “Well, thanks Alex. That really picked me right up.”

“Sure thing.” Alex slapped her on the back so hard she nearly toppled over. “Now listen up because I’m only going to say this the one time. There are guys on our team whose sole job is sorting through the mail. Ten thousand marriage proposals, twenty thousand death threats, and, on a good day, there’s only fifty of us guarding her at any given moment.”

Kara stared at her shoes as she processed Alex’s information, but was forced to look at her sweaty sister’s face when Alex put both hands on her shoulders.

“Everyone wants to get close. Everyone wants something from her. And, I’m saying this with some personal experience; life as a Luthor isn’t exactly a walk in the park if you know what I mean.”

Kara nodded and Alex removed her hands to get another drink of water. She definitely understood what Alex meant from her emails about Lillian back when she was a regular security guard at L-Corp.

“If it was me, I’d make sure I was one of the few people in her life who was completely hassle-free.” Alex winked at her, “But that’s just me.”

Alex walked back to the practice mat with a cocky stride and called a couple of agents over to the mat to by name. Kara wasn’t really watching though, she was staring at the abandoned water bottle wondering how she was possibly going to manage being hassle-free when she’d already nearly ruined Lena’s first presidential campaign.


	37. Chapter 37

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

Maggie led them to an empty office off of the hallway of the courthouse.

“I don’t know of any testimony from that night.” She snapped at Alex as a guard closed the door behind them. “You have to tell me what’s going on right now or I’m walking out the door.”

“Yeah, look—”

“Tell me now, Alex.”

“I’m trying!” Alex yelled before crumpling into the nearest chair. “I don’t remember much from that night before it got blown to hell…I remember the little things.”

“What was that?”

“I only remember the little things,” she said just above a whisper. “I can feel the glass cutting into my arms, it was tempered glass, but still hurt like hell. I can hear the sound of the gun going off. I remember the feeling of cold steel in the palm of my hand…”

> _L-Corp’s Halloween Party_
> 
> “Alex, you need to relax” Lena said as they waited in the elevator descending to the party in L-Corp’s magnificent lobby. “Have a drink or something, you’re making me jumpy.”
> 
> “You know I can’t drink on the job, ma’am.”
> 
> “Yes, well, remind me to increase your salary in the near future.”
> 
> “Ma’am?” Alex turned to the Governor with a questioning brow.
> 
> “You’re wearing your usual suit to a black-tie affair, we need to get you a proper tuxedo if you’re ever going to find a decent woman.”
> 
> “Please stop trying to set me up with you corporate friends, ma’am.”
> 
> “Okay, Sara Lance might’ve been overkill,” Lena agreed, “but we’ll find you someone.”
> 
> “Unless you’d like me meddling in your personal life, ma’am, I suggest you drop the subject.”
> 
> “Fine.” Lena huffed as the doors to the lift opened and the walked out into the grand lobby redecorated as a shining ballroom.

“I remember the news reports about the shoot-out in the basement,” Maggie said rubbing her forehead, “but are you trying to tell me that all of Metropolis was there and they were somehow duped?”

“It was a public party, Lex sent out invitations to everyone who donated five dollars to his sister’s campaign.” Alex said staring blankly into the middle ground, “everyone was on high alert, and we had multiple I.D. checks, bag checks, you name it.”

She took a deep breath and shifted to recline in her chair before continuing, “and I was on what we affectionately dubbed ‘Lena Duty’ for the entire night. She was getting anxious because their mother still hadn’t shown up.”

> Alex stood back as Lena and her brother argued in hushed tones by the open bar. Some of the guests were starting to notice so she went over to find out what the problem was.
> 
> “What the hell is she even working on?” Lena seethed through gritted teeth.
> 
> “I honestly don’t know,” he said with raised brows, “I haven’t really been keeping up with the R&D section of L-Corp since I moved to Washington, have you?”
> 
> “No.” Lena huffed. “I get called in occasionally by finance and engineering, but R&D was never my hobbyhorse.”
> 
> “Should I check it out, ma’am?” Alex asked to get their attention. “People are starting to wonder why we’re hiding behind the liquor bottles.”
> 
> “You need our family DNA to access the basement levels,” Lex sighed as her rubbed the back of his head, “I’ll come with you.”
> 
> “No,” Lena put a hand on his arm to stop him, “You’re technically the host, I’m only here for a guest speech and the announcement. Just make sure everyone’s inside and ready for me when I get back, okay?”

“The basement, Alex.” Maggie said with exasperation, “Get to the fucking point.”

“Come on, Mags, you know a story’s no good without some exposition.”

> When they entered the elevator, Alex pressed the button for the lower levels and held it until the elevator bypassed the parking garage and started counting the stories as they descended into the earth.
> 
> “I think the worst part is I’m not even surprised she’s still working at nine o’clock on a Saturday.” Lena said.
> 
> “Well, now we know where you get that from.”
> 
> “If you value your life, Ms. Danvers,” Lena said with a threatening glare, “You’ll never compare me to Lillian ever again.”
> 
> “Noted and filed, ma’am.” Alex teased.
> 
> When they reached the private floor of L-Corp’s research and development laboratories, Alex stood behind Lena as she placed her hand on the scanner and have her finger pricked. The pneumatic air-locking doors slid open and they walked quietly into the dark room.

“What was she working on?” Maggie asked.

“I’m not like you guys,” Alex mused. “I don’t understand how you can just _assume_ that people are inherently good. I don’t understand people who aren’t worried about riding the elevator with a stranger. I don’t understand people who think they’ll be fine walking home in the dark. How can you assume you’ll be fine when you’ve read explicit hate mail and attacked assholes with guns as part of your job for a couple of years?”

Alex took a deep breath and reached into her shoulder bag to find a bottle of water. “My brain just works differently.”

“I know Conner was somewhere in the room, Alex,” Maggie said, “What was she doing to him.”

“Well, now we’ve arrived at the real problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rough timeline (no spoilers) for clarification:  
> Present day - Lena running for re-election, Kara writing Spotlight feature  
> 3 yeas ago - Conner taken, then Lex in office, then Alex at Trial  
> 4 years ago - Cat convinces Lena to run for president  
> 6 years ago - Halloween Party at L-Corp


	38. Chapter 38

Kara carefully counted each step as the secret service agent led her up to the second floor of the White House. She remembered this room from the reception before the state dinner, but it seemed infinitely larger with only one person. The agent remained by the open doorway and she briefly wondered if he knew why she was here in the first place. Discretion is what Alex had said, but did that mean they knew everything and kept their mouths shut or knew nothing and never asked? Maybe it was—

Her thoughts immediately paused when she caught sight of a small boy peaking his head out of the side doorway. He glanced about the room, but quickly disappeared behind the door again when they locked eyes. The quiet giggle surprised her.

“Hello?” she called to the open door and was rewarded with more giggling before he gathered enough courage to fully walk around the door.

“Hi.” He said with a brilliant smile and more embarrassed laughter.

Kara didn’t quite know what she had been expecting when Lena invited her to dinner with her son, but this image was certainly not it. I mean, sure, he had on the standard kid’s tennis shoes and jeans, but the open flannel over a ‘Young Buck’ henley was a little off-putting. This had to be the best-dressed kid she had ever seen. The last straw for Kara was the slight mohawk in his hair—really, what kind of six year old styles their hair?

“You wouldn’t be Conner, now, would you?”

“Are you Ms. Danvers?” he asked and put his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, but most people just call me Kara.” She said with a smile.

“Mommy calls you Kara.” He stuck out his hips turned away like he was listening for something, or someone.

“Hmm, so she talks about me?” She just had to joke with him; he was too adorable not to mess with.

“Mayyyyyyybe.” His bashful smile simply expanded and his cheeks burned from embarrassment. “Mommy told me to stay in my room, but I knew you were out here ‘cause I could hear you.”

“Well, you’d better go back to your room before she gets mad at us.”

“She’s on the phone.” He made a show of looking at his bedroom door and behind Kara to watch the guard all the same.

“That’s not very nice of her,” Kara gasped in mock outrage, “and here I thought we were supposed to have fajitas.”

“I love fajitas.” He told her in all seriousness.

“How about this,” Kara knelt down to his level, “you go tell your mommy that it’s time for dinner, and I promise not to tell her you broke the rules.”

“Deal!” he said and stuck out his hand so they could shake on it.

He stealthily walked back to the door and shut it quietly behind him. Kara couldn’t hold in her laughter when she heard the telltale signs of little feet running across the room and doors opening and slamming in his wake. This was certainly going to be an eventful dinner.

Maybe five minutes after Conner went tearing through the residences, Lena and Conner entered from the main doorway behind her and Kara definitely forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. Mike had sent her a text to dress casually, but she forgot to connect the dots and prepare herself for the image of Lena Luthor in jeans and a loose-fitting plaid shirt. This was stupid, she’d seen Lena dressed to impress for the state dinner, and she normally looked immaculate in her business attire, but there was definitely something… _more_ about Lena in her casual wear.

“Apparently,” Lena began playfully, “I have strict orders to get dinner started _now._ ”

She carefully bumped her leg into Conner’s shoulder and he dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Please ignore my son, he’s always like this.” She continued with a laugh of her own.

“I was actually thinking that I missed the plaid memo,” Kara joked right back.

“We match,” Conner spoke up.

“You both look amazing.”

“What do you say, sweetie?” Lena prompted.

“Thank you, Kara.”

“Hmm,” Lena began, “and just _how_ do you know this is Kara Danvers.”

Conner did his level best not to smile, but it just made him look like he swallowed a lemon, as he hid behind his hands.

“I was talking rather loudly to the secret service agent on my way up here,” Kara bluffed, “He must’ve heard me talking. You know how loud I can get when I’m nervous.”

Lena looked between the two of them with her mouth slightly open in mock outrage.

“Oh, no, no, no, this right here?” she said gesturing between Kara and Conner, “This little partnership you two managed to concoct in the five minutes I was on the phone needs to end right now.”

“I can’t possibly imagine what you’re talking about.” Kara said and adjusted her glasses.

“Yeah, mommy, you’re a silly goose,” Conner patted her hip in the most patronizing manner and Kara almost burst out laughing.

“Let’s get fajita night started then.” Lena said as Conner jogged out of the room.

“Silly goose,” Kara said as she bumped her shoulder into Lena’s who burst into laughter.

Although they were eating in the formal dining room, Kara could tell that there were no stewards or chefs involved in tonight’s meal. At the very least, the superhero dining set was a dead give away.

“I love your plates, Conner,” Kara said.

“Thank you!”

“He loves comics and superheroes,” Lena explained, “He’s gotten into the habit of assigning alter egos to people.”

“I’m assuming by this spread that you’re Wonder Woman?” Kara asked.

“Mommy is always Wonder Woman.” Conner piped up. “Kara, you sit here.”

“Excuse me,” Lena chided, “but where have your manners disappeared to?”

“Kara, would you like to sit next to me, please?”

“I’d love to.” Kara said as she sat down at the Superman plate. Now _that_ was certainly an odd choice for her.

They helped themselves to whatever they wanted from the table. Lena only helped Conner with the hot skillet, but other than that, Kara was very impressed with the boy’s manners and independent nature. If he wasn’t in a booster seat, she might’ve thought he was eight or nine.

“So, Conner,” Kara asked, “how are you liking school?”

“S’okay.” He shrugged. “Jason is nice.”

“Jason is his class buddy for third grade,” Lena explained. Wait, _third_ grade?

“What’s your favorite subject?”

“At the school or at home?” he asked looking every bit like a confused puppy.

“You have classes at home, too?” Kara clarified.

“Yeah, I like those a lot better than the ones at school, but mommy says I need to be with other kids.”

“Now I’m the bad guy,” Lena groaned.

“But I’m still waiting for your favorite subject,” Kara pressed.

Conner took a moment to think carefully about his answer before responding.

“Physics.”

“Physics.” Kara repeated with wide eyes as Conner nodded his head vigorously.

“We build things and paint and it’s really fun.”

“In physics?” Kara was clearly missing something, but luckily Lena took the time to explain.

“There’s a graduate student from the art institute who’s studying fractal images that stops by every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. He teaches Conner basic physics while they make a mess of the study.” Even Conner had the decency to look a bit ashamed of his crazy paint splatters all over the walls.

“That’s sounds like a lot of fun, actually.”

“We made a pendulum once!” Conner was eager to be the center of attention yet again. “It was so cool and it painted these perfectly flat circles and I made mommy a flower picture.”

“ _Very_ cool.” Kara said.

The rest of the dinner went by in much the same way and Kara was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to talk with the two Luthors. While Lena cleared the table, Conner insisted on giving Kara a tour of his room. She expected a superhero themed and messy room of a typical boy, but found herself standing in a well-organized room tastefully decorated in shades of black and red. Right, son of Lena Luthor, of course the kid was going to be tidy and chic. Speaking of…

“Conner," Lena called from the door, "I’m gonna walk Kara back down, so say your goodbyes.”

“Night, Kara. You should come back again.” That last part was undeniably directed at his mother.

“Good night, Conner.” Kara said with a chuckle. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

Conner held out his hand to shake like a grown up and Kara had to keep her laugh in check.

“Pajamas when I get back or we’re not watching the movie.” Lena warned as they left his room. Kara could hear the loud groan even with the door closed.

They wandered slowly back through the central hallway to the main staircase.

“He’s wonderful.” Kara said, breaking the silence.

Lena smirked, “He’s quite the handful.”

“Did he…design his own room?”

“Yes,” Lena groaned, “and he demanded to pick out outfits for the evening.” She pulled at the black and red checked flannel as if proving her point.

“You really do look great, but that also explains why half your wardrobe is black and red.”

Lena laughed at her own ridiculousness. “I can’t believe I raised a _fashionista_.”

“Are you being serious right now?” Kara didn’t even bother trying to contain her own laughter. “He’s exactly like you, Lena—except that shirt, that screams Alex.”

“Your sister does have a habit of taking him shopping for clothes with particularly lewd phrases on them.”

“And the hair?”

“Jess styled it. She lives down the hall with her husband.” Lena pointed across the way before they descended the staircase. “You should’ve seen him running around this evening trying to make sure everything was _just right_.”

“Well, he succeeded because I had a great time.”

“I’m glad,” Lena said with a genuine smile. “We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

Kara presented a smile of her own before turning to the secret service agent at the base of the staircase. Seeing Lena Luthor in her comfort zone was definitely a completely different beast than dealing with the President of the United States. Kara nearly forgot she was even in the White House until she passed through security on her way out.


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up: very mild gun and physical violence, but skip to the end notes if you don't want to risk it.

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

“I know Conner was somewhere in the room, Alex,” Maggie said, “What was she doing to him.”

“Well, now we’ve arrived at the real problem.”

> Alex’s eyes scanned the dimly lit room and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Something was very wrong about this place. She glanced at Lena and when their eyes locked, Alex knew her suspicions were correct. They turned the corner heading towards the sound of typing from a computer keyboard and what they found made Alex stop dead in her tracks.
> 
> Not ten feet in front of them was a small tank about waist height filled with god knows what sort of blue liquid and numerous tubes and wires coming out of the top lid and base. Lillian stood in front of the tank typing aimlessly away at the computer connected to the tank. What stopped the two women from even breathing was the object floating _inside_ the tank; what looked to be a human fetus.
> 
> “Oh my god.” Lena breathed I shock from beside her. That got Lillian’s attention.
> 
> “Good evening, Lena,” she said turning to face them with a wild look in her eye. “You’re just in time to see my latest creation.”
> 
> “Mother,” Lena said while clearly trying to choke back the bile in her throat, “Are you—is that, what _is_ that?”
> 
> “Come and see for yourself.”
> 
> As Lillian summoned Lena to her side by the computer, Alex took the opportunity to continue her sweep of the room. She kept an ear focused on Lena’s steady voice discussing science shit with Lillian, but Alex was too busy snooping about the place to really focus on their words. She came to a large bin that had some used metal parts with tubes and wires when she realized this could only end poorly. One of the metal pieces looked just like the lid of the blue tank in the center of the room, except this one had the number seven stamped on it.
> 
> She quickly turned around to see Lena looking at her from across the room with wide, panicked eyes. She’d obviously heard enough from Lillian to figure it out as well.
> 
> Alex picked up a short metal pipe from the top of the pile without making a sound and calmly walked back to her place standing a few paces behind Lena.
> 
> “…it’s taken me quite a while to figure out the best combination of genetic materials, but I believe I’m almost there. The key is starting with good DNA, which is where you came in,” Lillian continued said, “I was going to use Lex, but they never seemed to accept the gene splices and I needed your brain and good looks, dear.”
> 
> “And, um,” Lena stammered, “Where do you go from here?”
> 
> “Well, this one is definitely the best thus far; no diseases or abnormalities, but I think I can get the brain function to increase if I exchange one or two of the samples.”
> 
> Alex was feeling a little sick to her stomach just listening to this, she couldn’t imagine what Lena must be feeling knowing this madwoman was down here _cloning_ her for god knows how many years.
> 
> “And how do you exchange the samples at this stage?” Lena asked, plainly fearing the answer she knew was coming.
> 
> “Don’t be silly,” Lillian chortled, “I have to start over. It’s a simple process, just add the acidic formula to the embryonic solution and there’s no mess to clean up.”
> 
> Alex had heard enough; she lifted the metal pipe and teed off.
> 
> “Krypton!” she yelled and didn’t even wait for Lena to duck before she swung the pole and connected with the back of Lillian’s neck.

“Krypton?” Maggie asked, “As in Superman’s home planet?”

“Yeah, Kara was obsessed with his comics when she first came to live with us,” Alex explained, “It was our emergency code word for ‘shit’s about to happen’ or ‘I’m not okay.’ You know, stuff like that. I just carried it over to work when I was reassigned as Lena’s bodyguard.”

> Lillian crumpled to the floor as Lena immediately flew into action and began typing on the computer screen as fast as she possibly could.
> 
> “I can’t just break the glass, can I?” Alex asked, searching around for a proper weapon aside from her sidearm. She noticed a fire ax attached to the wall that would have to do.
> 
> “There’s a release sequence I need to start, otherwise he’ll die as soon as he’s out of the solution.”
> 
> Alex waited impatiently for Lena to finish whatever it was she needed to do. She was so focused on the tank trying to figure out the best way of getting the kid out of there she wasn’t paying attention to Lillian’s quiet stirrings as she slowly began to regain consciousness.
> 
> “It’s done!” Lena shouted and they both jumped up to the tank trying to pry the lid off, but to no avail. Lena was in full panic now. “We only have a minute before he suffocates.”
> 
> “Fuck this,” Alex spat and started swinging the ax at the glass. There must’ve been some serious adrenaline pumping through her veins because it only too four hits for the front panel to crack open.
> 
> “Careful,” Lena cautioned as the sticky fluid started rushing out of the tank.
> 
> Alex started using the butt of her pistol to chip away at the edges of the crack to widen it without endangering the child that was sinking with the fluid. She had just pulled him out of the enclosure when she heard the gunshot and time ceased to exist.
> 
> She turned her head to see Lillian holding a pistol of her own out of the corner of her eye. Stupid fucking bitch, should’ve aimed for the head. Despite the searing pain in her shoulder she clutched the infant to her chest—protected as much as possible by the bulletproof vest, before managing two steps towards Lena that effectively blocked her from Lillian’s aim.
> 
> Two more shots rang out and Alex didn’t even have the brainpower to recognize where she had been shot, only that she was falling. She dropped to one knee so she wouldn’t crush the kid and pressed her firearm into Lena’s waiting hands.

“Lena shot her mother,” Maggie said in realization, “Not you.”

“Yeah,” Alex replied with an annoyed tone, “I was taking a nap on the floor.”

“You had been shot! _Three_ times!”

“Are you gonna let me finish this?”

> Alex regained consciousness in the elevator doorway as Lena tried to cram the agent’s legs into the tiny space.
> 
> “Y-you” she stopped to cough up a mouthful of blood, “suck at thissssss.”
> 
> “Shut up.” Lena said through tight lips.
> 
> Alex noticed that she looked like a vampire with her face all pale like that. She heard the elevator pressurize rapidly as Lena hit the emergency switch and they rocketed up to the first floor lobby. The doors clicked open and Lena dropped Alex's pistol to grab her by the shoulder straps of the vest and yank her out of the elevator.
> 
> “LEX!” she shouted and quickly pressed the panic button on her phone to call the authorities.
> 
> “Ew couldn’—” more blood. Lovely, Danvers, and this was supposed to be a black-tie affair. “do ‘at den air?”
> 
> “It doesn’t have signal down there.” Alex was honestly surprised Lena could understand her.
> 
> She knew she was losing too much blood to stay conscious for much longer, but when she saw the gun on the floor she knew she had to grab it, and fast. It took all of her remaining strength to reach for the weapon, but as soon as she felt the cool metal, she tightened her grip on the world and let herself fall into the abyss.

“I’m assuming, then, that Mr. Kent was at the party?” Maggie quietly asked.

Alex tried to subtly wipe her eyes without Maggie knowing. “He was a ‘frienemy’ of Lex’s from capital hill. They’re polar opposites, but they co-sponsored a bill that flew through both the House and the Senate—even after a presidential veto.”

“And he saw the gun.” It was a statement more than a question, but Alex answered it all the same.

“When I came up from the basement with Lena and Conner, I was barely conscious. I remember Lena dropping the gun in the elevator to pull my ass out. He must’ve seen me pick it up.”

“So the gun is why he gets to bring this up at the hearing.”

“Yup,” she said sitting straighter in her chair, “he saw me pick up the gun. Not my fault the CSI team stopped looking for prints after mine. All they knew was what I told them in the ambulance—and Lena was riding shotgun so it’s not like she wouldn’t be able to corroborate my story.”

“Fuck, Alex,” Maggie said.

“Thought you’d never ask,” Alex said with a small smile that looked more like a grimace. “Yeah, so this next bit is gonna hurt like a bitch, isn’t it?”

She didn’t really need Maggie to answer, she knew her testimony would be the one to sink Lena’s Presidency, but at least she got the emotional bits over with in here instead of in that courtroom full of vultures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important notes:  
> -The baby is a partial clone of Lena  
> -Alex and Lena work to get the baby out of the tube  
> -Alex attacks Lillian to knock her out  
> -They get the baby out  
> -Lillian gets up and fights  
> -Lena kills Lillian  
> -Alex, Lena, and the baby all live!


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some unexpected free time today, so here's an early update for you guys.

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

“I don’t understand why you guys covered this up.” Maggie said resting her forehead on her palm. “I don’t understand why you lied about Conner to everyone. It’s not like anything illegal happened. How on earth could you think that this would’ve remained a secret?”

“Because you think this is about deceiving people, but it’s not.” Alex got up to pace around the small office. What she wouldn’t do for a bottle of tequila right now. “Do you have any idea how many people at that party witnessed a blood-soaked Lena dragging my lifeless body out of that fucking elevator?—And clutching an infant no less! My most basic job description is ‘protect the asset,’ which includes protecting her from any potential media fallouts. As soon as we learned that Conner had her DNA, he became my asset too.”

Alex could tell that Maggie was on the cusp of tuning out, attorney-client privilege could only go so far after all, but now that she had gone down that rabbit hole of that story, there was no stopping the flood.

“There are normally three of us to protect a single asset when they’re not in a secure location. Down in that basement it was just me protecting the both of them—and I don’t know about you, but I can’t be in two places at once!”

“But you managed.”

“Not without putting Lena on trial for murder,” Alex spat, “…Twice.”

Alex sat back in her chair like a child who had cried itself out of its own temper tantrum. She tried to look anywhere but Maggie’s face.

“So…” the lawyer began, dead-set on completely changing the subject, “when Conner calls you ‘daddy’ he’s not just picking up some god-awful habit from Lena?”

Alex actually laughed, a real one, with a snort and everything. Of all the things she was anticipating Maggie coming back with after that outburst, she just had to go asking about Conner’s little slip up that’d become habit.

“He is, actually… We were in the residences playing with trucks or something and he just busted it out; ‘daddy, I’m hungry.’” She smiled thinking back to the look of shock and awe on Lena’s face.

“Please don’t tell me…” Maggie petered off covering her eyes with her hand already expecting Alex’s response.

“Oh yeah, before Lena could say anything I responded with, ‘hi, hungry, I’m dad.’ Then she made some sort of lewd ‘daddy’ joke… Father’s day is especially hilarious now that he’s in school.”

“God, of course you go in for Father’s day.” Maggie tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears before getting back to the subject at hand. “Who else knows about the gun situation? And who knows about Conner?”

“Well, you are the third person to get the entire story about the Lillian incident.” Alex laced her fingers together on the table between them to think about just who _did_ know about Conner. “Lex, Jess and her husband of course, Cat… I actually think most of senior staff is suspicious, but they’d never ask outright—not that it matters anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he doesn’t have a birth certificate, so after Lena slapped CPS pretty hard for taking him, they published the record of his birth.”

“And because it’s a government document it’s public record,” Maggie continued, “So what’s this trial even about then?”

“It’s about kicking the White House in the nuts, that’s always been the goal of this charade. They just want to beat down the President until public support turns and causes Congress to start discussing impeachment.”

A guard knocked briefly before opening the door to announce people were returning to the courthouse.

“Thank you for telling me about what happened—finally. Just out of curiosity,” Maggie stood up and readjusted her blouse, “why have you been asking me to have a meal with you every free moment?”

Alex shoved her hands in the front pockets of her jeans and stuck out her hips looking towards the door.

“I like you. I’ve never been able to really meet you, what with being on Connor duty since the campaign started, but I’ve heard a lot about you from the little guy—without actually knowing it was you,” Alex rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, “I want to get to know you and… I’m not sure when I’ll get another chance.”

“You should answer his questions, preferably without the sass. Let me deal with the legal issues.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Alex said, nothing like a brush-off to get her mind back on the trial at hand. She opened the door and followed Maggie out to the hall.

“Yes, by the way.”

“Yes?”

“Yes,” Maggie repeated, stopping just before the courtroom doors, “I’d like to have dinner with you tonight.”

“All right.” She let a genuine smile break across her face before turning the knob. “Let’s get this over with.”

-           -           -

“Ms. Danvers,” Clark called from his place among the congressional inquisitors, “six years ago at the L-Corp Halloween party in Metropolis, there was a shooting—”

Just as Alex had steeled herself to go through this ordeal a second time, she was caught off guard by the sudden interruption of the Chairman.

“Mr. Kent, I’m sorry to interrupt, but it’s been an awfully long day and I think it’s time for us to break for the extended weekend. Counsel, do you object?”

The Chairman glanced quickly to Ms. Lane who shook her head briefly. Alex was so shocked, she couldn’t stop herself from blurting out a loud, “What?”

Clark Kent looked ready to jump down and fight the man himself. “Mr. Chairman, can we—”

“Ms. Danvers,” Lucy cut him off and nodded to Maggie, signaling her to Alex out of dodge as soon as humanly possible, “that concludes our questioning for today.”

“What the f—” Alex cried out before Lucy’s timely interruption.

“You’re done for the day, agent.”

She watched in disbelief as the Congressmen and women got up from their stiff chairs, eager to get home before the holiday traffic got bad. Alex turned to Maggie who was attempting to physically drag her out of the chair and through the courtroom doors.

“What the hell?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Maggie said, “but we’ll take the win for now and I’ll talk with Lucy to find out the rest.”

“I really had to tell you the whole damn story?”

“Shut up. I’m going to dinner with you.” The brunette said with a wink.

“Yeah…” Alex petered off as they began walking from the courthouse back to the parking garage. “Listen, you wanna get breakfast tomorrow morning instead?”

“Why, what’s tomorrow?”

“It’s my birthday.”

“Sure, but you know,” Maggie began with a devious smile, “the two events aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Alex took a good hard look at the cheeky woman and decided what the hell? It was about time she tried living her life as if she were actually alive instead of just going through the motions.

-           -           -

Alex was packing up her bag for the day when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from down the hallway. High heels meant it could only be one person.

“Well, well, well,” Lena said entering her little office space, “You could make a career out of dodging bullets like that.”

“I’m not sure it counts if you bribe the judge and jury.” Alex fixed the president with a serious glare; she shouldn’t be taking these sorts of risks.

“Don’t be silly, that would be such a waste of funds. I had Cat talk to Lucy about putting a deal together over the break.

“You could’ve let me in on your little production, you know.”

“And ruin all the fun?” she asked with a smirk and a raised brow. “I honestly didn’t think Ms. Lane would go for it—she is quite the spitfire after all. By the by, did you get a date with Maggie?”

Alex leaned back against the filing cabinet with her arms crossed as Lena sat on the edge of her desk.

“That’s none of your business, Madam President.”

“You know she used to date Lucy back in law school.”

“No shit?” Alex said in surprise, “That certainly changes my plans for our date tonight.”

“Look at you!” Lena said throwing a binder clip at her head. “And here I was worried all my matchmaking shenanigans had been wasted.”

“Yeah, you get those subtly lessons from a neon sign? Anyway, I _am_ having dinner with Maggie so I wanted to stop by and catch up on what I missed.”

“I’m glad you decided to drop by because _I_ have a present for you.”

Lena reached into her purse and produced a small square package and a handmade card from Conner. Alex took the package and gingerly opened the card to read what the kid had written to her.

‘Happy Birfday to US! I love you, Alex. You are the beast daddy evar!’

“Did you even _try_ to correct his spelling?” Alex asked sarcastically.

“I fixed the most glaring errors,” Lena laughed, “but I was far too amused by ‘beast daddy’ to have him change it.”

Alex carefully unwrapped the palm-sized box and lifted the lid. There was no tissue paper, nor any packing peanuts, just a seemingly useless shard of twisted metal. She slowly lifter the jagged piece from the box and turned it over in her palm to find an engraved number ‘13’ on the outer face.

“Thank you for bringing Conner into my life.” Lena said with a thick voice, “That was awfully nice of you.”

If anyone asked, Alexandra Danvers was definitely _not_ crying over a dumb piece of metal. That being said, she was definitely hyperventilating and trying to keep the water in her eyes while staring at that fucking piece of metal.

“You make it sound like I gave birth or something.” She said between sniffles.

Lena got up from her place on the desk and held Alex’s face between her hands, slowly wiping her tears away with her thumbs as she talked.

“You were the first person to ever hold him; as soon as we got him out of that tank you grabbed him in your arms. In the first ten minutes of his life you took a bullet meant for him and then two meant for me.”

Alex was definitely an emotional wreck on the inside by now and she wasn’t entirely sure how she was able to hold it all together for Lena’s sake.

“I know you were comatose for this, but it took three paramedics to pry him out of your arms so they could get you to the hospital.”

“Thank you, Madam President.” She managed to get out.

Lena gave her a bear hug—or at least she tried considering she was a hair taller in her heels, and Alex eventually convinced her she’d be all right for the evening.

As she sat in her chair just staring at the scrap of metal in her hands, she wondered how her life might’ve been different had she never gone into that basement. Would she be as optimistic about life as she is now? Would she be as close with the President who just happened to be one of her best friends? What if it had been Lex with her that night? Would Conner have survived? Would Lillian?

She let the pile of ‘what if’s continue to swirl around her mind until she finally couldn’t take it anymore. She clutched the treasure to her chest and, for the first time in years, she completely broke down and let herself weep.


	41. Chapter 41

The weekend before the State of the Union address was always a difficult time for Lena. Not only was she in the process of memorizing an hour-long speech while running the country, but it technically hadn’t even been written yet. On top of all that, she now had to deal with mothering one of the highest-ranking members of her armed forces. What she wouldn’t give to be able to simply ground her joint chiefs for a week. Maybe even sit them in time out. She nearly laughed out loud at the image of Sec-Nav sitting next to Conner on the 1926 antique chaise in the Treaty Room.

“What are you thinking about?” Lex asked. They were on their way down to the situation room and Lena hadn’t realized she actually did let a chuckle escape.

“Oh, you know,” Lena waved him off, “Just wishing I wasn’t mother to the entire nation.”

“You were picturing Damian in time out again, weren’t you?” He snickered.

“Robert Plaskett.”

“The Secretary of the Navy—in time out?” He said in disbelief. “Please don’t tell me…”

“Oh yes,” Lena said with a smile as they reached their destination, “in full dress regalia—sabre included.”

The Luthor siblings waited a beat to gather their poker faces before stepping into the situation room. When they finally did, the joint chiefs stood with their eyes boring holes in the conference table and nobody was laughing anymore.

“All right, what’s happening?” she asked taking her seat at the head of the table.

“Madam President,” Jethro began from his place to her left, “About an hour ago, the Syrian army launched an invasion along the Lebanon border near Ba’albek.”

Lena could practically feel Lex tense and sit up a bit straighter.

“And do we know why they would want to do that?” Lena asked, “Aside from severely pissing off the Vice President?”

At Lena’s pointed look, her brother calmed down significantly and sat back in his seat. Not like she could hold it against him. He was the one who basically rebuilt the Levant region after the nuclear scare nearly forty years ago.

“We’re unsure at this time.” Jethro looked down at his hands, “I’m sorry, Ma’am.”

“That’s okay, Jethro. Now, when you say ‘Syrian army’ what _exactly_ are you talking about? Is this a group of freelancers or an armed village…?” Lena asked while resorting to hand gestures in an attempt to get more information out of her intelligence liaisons.

“They’ve mobilized the 2nd and 7th infantry division and the 3rd armored brigade.”

“Jethro.” Lena was quickly losing her patience, and their poor attempts at trying to hide their incompetence were only making it worse.

“How many troops total?” Lex jumped in to ask.

“Approximately fifty thousand troops.”

“Wait a minute,” Lena interrupted, “In the last _hour_?

“Yes, Ma’am.” Jethro still wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“You’re telling me Syria just decided to mobilize fifty thousand troops—on a whim?!”

“No, Ma’am.”

“This had to have been planned, right?” Lex asked the table at large.

“We believe so.”

“Okay,” Lena took a deep breath before continuing, “Well, all I’m trying to do right now is avoid looking at the _director_ of the _CIA_ because I’m afraid if I do I won’t be able to stop myself from throwing my coffee at his face or feeding him to a pack of wolves!”

While her voice had remained low and controlled, everyone could hear the building tension as she continued her speech. If not for all the computer alerts and notifications, Lena would bet she could’ve heard Director Thrope swallow.

“Madam President…” he whispered.

“Fifty _thousand_ troops, Damian?! I can’t watch Conner’s thanksgiving play at school without my motorcade showing up on Google maps, but Syria can mobilize half their armed forces in an hour without anyone knowing?”

“We dropped the ball on this, Ma’am.” He responded.

“No shit.” Lena stood up and surveyed the room of grown-ass men who were supposed to be running the country’s intelligence operations. “Pick it back up or I’ll find someone who can.”

Well, this was turning out to be one hell of a morning.

-           -           -

Fifteen minutes later saw the President lounging on one of the couches in the oval office while her senior staff loitered around listening to Cat’s briefing.

“The Lebanese have about ten thousand troops at the northern border, and maybe five thousand troops along the eastern front for defense.”

“All this happened without the CIA knowing about it?” Maggie asked.

“I’ve already dealt with them.” Lena said.

“The United Nations Security Council is meeting right now to try and affect a cease-fire.” Cat continued as if she had never been interrupted.

“Yes, because that’s going to work.” James scoffed from his place by the door. The poor guy was desperately trying to work on the State of the Union speech.

Maggie was still hung up on the logistics. “How in the hell did they miss fifty thousand armed people straight up _walking_ across a fucking dessert?”

“Well, I wouldn’t worry too much,” Lena said without moving her eyes from her stack of memos. “They have an excellent picture of them now.”

“Wouldn’t the general idea be to spot them _before_ they crossed the border?” Maggie continued, “Or, I don’t know, maybe while they were gathering under the cover of absolutely nothing _in the desert_?”

“Best laid plans, right?” Lena said. “I’m so glad we never decided to cut military funding. Just think of all the valuable data we would’ve been missing.”

James decided his best bet of getting sensible information was from Cat seeing as the President was too far down the path of sarcasm.

“Can we assess the command and control situation?”

“Now this is the truly terrifying part.” Lena called out to the room.

“Oh, this ought to be good.” Maggie hung her head in her hands.

“This is a direct quote from the Department of Defense briefing packet,” Cat began while pulling out a spiral bound report. “‘At various times, both countries have displayed an incoherent military system. As such, you cannot predict the outcome of a crisis, nor who would be in charge.’”

“Well, that sounds promising.” James managed after the blood drained from his face.

“There’s a Syrian expert I want to bring in,” Lena said, tapping her fingers on the edge of her portfolio and staring into space, “we went to high school together.”

“No.” Cat cut in and sat in her armchair.

“I think you two will love her.” Lena gestured to Maggie and James who glanced at each other with concern.

“Of course they will.” Cat said. “She’s bat-shit insane just like them.”

“She’s stimulating,” Lena said with a beaming smile.

“That’s _quite_ the interesting choice of words.” Cat drawled with a pointed look at Lena—who completely ignored her.

“Well, now I’m curious.” Maggie said with a smirk. “Who is she?”

“How do you know it’s a she?” James called from the back of the room. All three women turned to look at him; the man was about as oblivious as a wooden post. Maggie couldn’t keep her laugh contained and Lena decided to return to the topic at hand.

“Siobhan Smythe. Former ambassador to Damascus from the An Roinn Gnóthaí Eachtracha agus Trádála.”

“That…that sounds Gaelic,” Maggie was far too interested in this, and her predatory smile was doing nothing to ease Lena’s concern.

“A friend from high school as in your Irish boarding school?” James asked and Lena nodded. “Okay, let’s get her down here. Where is she now?”

“I’m betting the psych ward of a Belfast prison.” Cat said holding her forehead in her hand. This was the dumbest idea the President had conjured in a very ling time. Well…since she hired that blogger for the Spotlight feature at the least.

“She’s just opinionated, Cat.” Lena said.

“Are you really going to set that woman loose in the White House and surround her with beautiful women and free alcohol?” Cat asked in all seriousness.

“Wait, what?” That had certainly caught James’ attention.

“I can’t do anything about the women, but I’m sure we can restrict her alcohol intake.”

“What about you?” Cat pressed. “Can you restrain yourself?”

“Cat, I’m offended you think so little of me.” Lena said looking appalled. “Not that it matters. I’ve always been immune to her various charms.”

“Yes, I believe you simply adopted them as your own,” Cat shot back.

“Hello,” Maggie waved from the opposite couch, “What the hell is going on? Is Ms. Smythe an old flame or something?”

“Not for lack of trying on her part.” Lena responded with a coy smile.

“And how do you expect to introduce Siobhan to your Ms. Danvers?” Cat’s words were dripping in sarcasm, but at least she won the bet in managing to make the President stop mid-step with the dumbest expression of sucking on a lemon.

“Oh, now I _really_ want to see this.” Maggie said with a grin so big it looked like her face might split in half.

“Get her on a plane, please.” Lena said once she had snapped out of it. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.


	42. Chapter 42

It never occurred to Lex just how different he was from his sister. Sure, there was the obvious physical aspect—he was essentially the antithesis of Lena in every way. Tall, bald, and built like a brick shit-house compared to Lena’s curvy, petite frame with her long black hair. Their green eyes appeared to be the only paternal trait they shared, but they had always gotten along swimmingly despite their mother’s various interventions. Sending Lena to an Irish boarding school to alienate them was probably the worst decision Lillian ever made. Whatever her motives, she only succeeded in bringing the siblings closer together as Lex took every opportunity available to visit her while attending graduate school at Israel’s _Technion_.

There was also the small matter of the military. Lena always exhausted every possible diplomatic channel, and often times everyone in the room, before even considering a military strike. But Lex knew from experience that sometimes people are shitty for no reason. Just take his old roommate for instance; Maruf Naaji was the son of a high-ranking diplomat from Lebanon, but he was only ten when his mother and younger sister were killed in a car bomb. What was the bomber’s rationale? According to Maruf, he just wanted to hurt as many people as possible—that’s why he planted a bomb on the daycare’s van. Lex was certain it was for some cause or another, but is there really any viable rationale for bombing a van full of kids?

“What’s happening down there, Lex?”

Lena’s voice broke his train of thought as she walked into his office. Lex took a moment to collect his thoughts and organize the situation room briefing book before handing it over to his sister.

“Syria is moving in a two-pronged attack from the north and east.” He reclined in his chair and put his feet up on the ottoman next to his desk. “Lebanon has sent some troops to create a human buffer zone between the units. It’s all in there.”

He paged Cat’s office to make sure she was on her way over as Lena continued looking through the briefing packet.

“How close are the two armies?”

“About 10 miles apart at the closest, but they’ve stopped advancing for the night.” It was times like these where Lex wondered if picking up smoking was actually worth it. This was far too close to home for him to deal with rationally.

“Are the directors coming up with an invasion plan in the hopes that I’ll green light troops?”

“If they are, it’s only because they have to…” Lex could practically feel his sister’s eyes dissecting him; stripping away the slightly-wrinkled suit, the faint sheen of sweat on his brow, removing everything auxiliary until he was nothing more than one of her chess games to figure out. Luckily for him, Cat’s entrance broke their little standoff.

“You want to call Maruf, don’t you?” Lena asked him after predicting his next twelve moves.

“If you’ve brought in Ms. Smythe, I believe it’s time.” Lex scoffed. Bringing in Siobhan might’ve been insanity, but the woman had a damn-good head on her shoulders—and there weren’t many people in the world who knew the elite members of Syrian society better than her. Calling his old roommate was the least he could do to help, even if Lena didn’t like the idea of using back channels to end this shit.

“All right.” She said after a long pause and a heavy sigh.

“Using personal connections like Naaji and Smythe isn’t a vice, Ma’am.” Cat finally spoke up from her place by the door. Leave it to the mother to inherently know exactly what the kids were arguing about.

“I know, but it still feels like one.” Lena said as she rose from her seat and Lex picked up the phone to get a secure connection established with President Naaji.

“I actually believe it’s called friendship,” Cat said, “right, Lex?”

“I reserve my judgment until after my phone call with Maruf,” Lex said as he put the ringing line on speaker. “Lord only knows if I’ll still have a friendship with him after this.”

The President and her Chief of Staff left his office without another word and a young, spunky translator entered soon after.

“You’ve got code word clearance?” he asked the kid.

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay… wait, how old are you?”

“I’ll be 26 next week.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lex paced behind his office for a bit before responding, “you’re fluent in curses, right?”

“Sir?”

“Hell, shit, fuck, dammit? You know them in Arabic?”

“Yes, sir, but—”

“All right, you’re gonna hear some things—” Lex stopped when he heard his friend’s voice chime through the speaker.

“Hello?” Lex picked up the phone to give them some privacy before bringing in the translators.

“President Naaji, it’s Vice President Luthor—yes, sir, Lex… Sorry, Maruf, you know I’ve got to start out with the formalities. Did you want to use translators or do this in English? …No, Lena’s a bit busy trying to keep the word from going to hell, but I’ve got a guy here… Okay, one sec—”

Lex replaced the headset and listened to the phone switch back into speaker mode. The kid picked up the satellite headset to begin translating.

“I hope your translator is over twenty, Maruf. I don’t want you to think you’re talking to a child.” Lex joked and waited for his friend’s response to come through the kid’s mouth.

“You should leave the poor kid alone, I’m sure your state department spent a lot of money training him. I’m not used to hearing your words through a male voice.”

“Sorry about that, buddy. You know Lena can’t exactly talk to you herself nowadays.”

“I’m glad she’s doing good work, but I miss her voice all the same.”

“Maruf… you know why I’m making this call, right?”

“You’re here to tell me that you cannot send US troops to help us.”

“That’s not the only reason, and you know it so can you stop being the president for a second and tell me what the hell happened?”

“He’s laughing,” the kid said before continuing with the translation, “Our translators are going to love this.”


	43. Chapter 43

This had to be one of Kara’s best days this week. Not only had she made it through the day unscathed in her lovely new pink dress, but she had also managed not to trip in her heels. Today was definitely looking up. Next week would suck having to bring Rhea breakfast all the time—who gets to work at six?! But today was looking good because she had dug through the trenches to find herself an exclusive, a scoop, a one in a million chance and she had walked right into it with her nude pumps.

She had just rounded the corner to Maggie’s office when she saw the press secretary herself coming back from a lunch run.

“Maggie!”

“What’s up, little Danvers?”

As Maggie entered the small office, Kara tried her best to fill out the role of cutthroat media mogul by lounging against the doorframe and peering over her glasses.

“I have a source at the DOD who says Vice President’s grad school roommate is now the President of Lebanon.”

“Hold up,” Maggie said holding an accusatory fry at her, “ _you_ have a source at the DOD?”

“Well, Rhea has sources at the DOD and she let me call a few.”

Maggie laughed in her face—real smooth, Kara. “Wanna try that again?”

“Okay…” Kara readjusted her glasses and nervously tapped her pen on her notebook. “I might have bribed her with coffee for a week, but I got the numbers and one guy said Lex Luthor and Maruf Naaji used to be roommates.”

“I think someone’s hazing you, Danvers.” Maggie said shaking her head.

“You sure?”

“I was just in the oval office for the debriefing and nothing was mentioned.”

“Okay…” Maybe Rhea _was_ playing a trick on her after all.

“You sure Rhea didn’t just give you the number of a colleague in the press corps?”

“You’re probably right.” That certainly seemed more plausible than being the first to get a scoop like this. Kara ducked out of Maggie’s office quickly and found her way to the mess for a little pick-me-up pastry, texting Alex along the way to see if she wanted to grab lunch together. So much for her good day.

-           -           -

“Madam President?” Mike called from his place by the door to the oval office. The President and Cat were just finishing up a rather heated debate on how to brief the press.

“Is she here?” Lena asked with a gleam of excitement in her eye.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Send her in please.”

“God save me.” Cat muttered an rolled her eyes so violently Lena was afraid they would roll right out of her head and out the door.

“Madam President!” Siobhan cried as she entered the room.

Lena had to hand it to her, the Mediterranean sun did wonders for her skin. Siobhan practically strutted through the oval office like it was her own personal runway, although in those sky-high Louboutins, there was little doubt in Lena’s mind that the world was truly her stage.

“Thank you for coming, Siobhan. How was your flight?”

“Quite intoxicating, actually,” she said before enveloping her oldest friend in a hug.

“How are you even walking?” Cat grumbled. Lean noticed her texting Mike to limit the booze out of the corner of her eye.

“And those flight attendants.” Siobhan made as if to fan herself, but quickly broke into a smile at Lena’s choked laughter.

“God, I missed your pluck,” Lena said once she had regained her composure.

“Can we get down to business?” Cat asked.

Siobhan gave the chief of staff a good once-over before walking over to Cat’s side. “You’re not so bad yourself, you know.”

Lena had a difficult time keeping her laughter in check at Siobhan’s smolder. That was Smythe for you, always getting into trouble, but getting out of it twice as fast. Give her three days at the White House and she’d have every unattached staffer completely wrapped around her fingers. She wasn’t ashamed to say her best friend was the walking definition of a femme fatale.

“I’m well out of your league, dear,” Cat said with an unimpressed expression, “and straight.”

Siobhan got as close as humanly possible to Cat’s ear, and Lena had to give kudos to her mentor for not flinching, “That’s what they all say.”

“Lena.” Cat spat through gritted teeth. Time to move this along.

“Yes! How can I be of service to the world’s most powerful lesbian icon?” Siobhan practically shouted in glee before turning back to Cat, “A title I invented for her by the by.”

“We need your take on the Syrian situation, Siobhan.” Lena offered her the couch and took Cat’s usual armchair for herself.

“Hmm, well, how do you see things, Madam President?” Siobhan lounged across the sofa as if she were a French model.

“I’m honestly afraid some poor country is about to be obliterated from the map,” Lena wrung her hands. Military and armed conflicts were definitely not her strong suit. “I’d rather this end without bloodshed.”

Siobhan pondered Lena’s words for a good moment or two before responding. “Thank god you sent for me then!”

Smythe may be a tad unorthodox, she’d admit, but Lena could already see the gears working in her head trying to figure out the angles and moves that needed to be made in order to have this whole thing end with some semblance of order. If negotiating any sort of peace treaty in the Middle East was like walking a tight rope, Lena had just called in a woman who excelled at the drunkard’s walk. Best to simply make up new rules when the old ones haven’t been leading anywhere.

“I need to speak with your commanding officers, higher intelligence, and joint chiefs.” Siobhan said, grabbing a pad of paper from the coffee table and beginning to fill the page with notes and phone numbers.

“I’ll set up the meetings.” Cat said.


	44. Chapter 44

“Jess…”

“Kara, I really don’t think today is a good time.” Jess said standing from her desk to grab a pile of files from the cabinet.

“Yeah, I figured.” Kara adjusted her glasses out of nervousness, but Jess must’ve seen it because she decided to throw her a bone.

“She might be able to walk and talk… let me find out where her next meeting is.”

“I owe you one,” Kara beamed at the secretary.

“You owe me plenty, but you can start paying me back right now.”

“Anything!” Kara said a bit to hastily. Should’ve known she was about to regret this.

“I’ll set you up for a walk and talk, on the condition that you ask the President out to dinner.” She said with a sly smile.

“…What?” Kara breathed out and frantically looked around the room.

“Ask the President to have dinner again, and I’ll have Richard here take you right to Lena.”

“Jess!” Kara’s eyes were wild now. “You can’t just say things like that in _public_!” she whispered.

“Kara, look at me. This isn’t public, this is the White House.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Also, it’s very important to me that you have dinner with the first family again sooner rather than later.”

Now that was some new information that threw Kara for a loop.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked.

Jess slammed another stack of files on her desk with quite a bit more force than necessary and Kara briefly wondered if the desk would be able to withstand the secretary’s frustration.

“The President told her son she wouldn’t be asking you over to dinner again until your story was published and now we’re all living in hell.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Conner has refused to eat dinner with anyone, his room is immaculate—which seems like a good thing, but it’s really not, he’s slept in his bed every single night…”

Jess had completely lost it by now and was in a full Kara Danvers style rant with no end in sight. If there was any hope of Kara still making this walk and talk, she’d have to get to the point sooner rather than later.

“The worst part is that he’s banished me from his room and I miss my godson!”

“So I ask the President out to dinner, you get back on Conner’s good side, and I get five minutes to talk?”

“Yes,” Jess said with a firm nod, “and hopefully dinner with the first family again.”

“Fine.”

“What?” Jess’ head snapped up from her paperwork.

“I’ll do it.”

“That was a bit unexpected,” she said with a knowing look in her eye, but nevertheless she kept her word and motioned for Richard to take Kara to the President.

“If anyone asks, I put up a good fight.” Kara insisted and was met with only Jess’ laughter as she followed the secret service agent as he sped through the hallway.

Maybe three turns later and she saw Lena striding down the hall and quickly fell into pace beside the President.

“Kara, what a lovely surprise,” Lena said with a soft smile, “and here I though you’d been avoiding me since yesterday’s breakfast appointment.”

“I figured you had your hands full, but I have a couple questions for you, and keep in mind there’s a lot riding on your answers.”

“Oh yeah?” Lena smirked at Kara’s sudden bravado. “Like what?”

Kara made a show of thinking about it before answering “…How about dinner?”

“I’d love to, thanks for asking.” Lena said with a playful nudge.

“Nope,” Kara pointed a finger at the President, “only if you answer my questions.”

“Fire away!”

“Is Vice President Luthor on the phone with the President of Lebanon?”

“Yes, they were roommates in grad school. He’s calling to catch up.”

She knew it! Hah, Maggie, in your face! “And you’re heading to his office now?”

“In a little bit, why?” Lena asked, Kara could tell she had no idea what was going on.

“Can I sit in on that phone call?”

Lena didn’t even bother trying to hide her ruckus laughter. “Absolutely not. You do not have code word clearance, and I don’t mean to sound insulting, but you’re a reporter, Kara.”

“I thought you said it was just a friendly phone call?” Kara could see the moment Lena pieced it all together and she realized Kara’s true motives.

“…It is.” She gazed at Kara’s not-so-subtle smirk out of the corner of her eye. “That was very clever.”

“I learn from the best. Besides, you’re not very good at this covert stuff.” Kara tucked a stray lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear before continuing. Is there really a good way of blackmailing the leader of the free world?

“I now have enough to go on record with a story about the Vice President calling an old friend to try and solve this problem under the table instead of using diplomacy, but I don’t want to publish that story.”

“You don’t?” Lena asked with a skeptical brow.

“No, because I want to be in the room.” Lena rolled her eyes at her insistence. “I’m not going to record what was said, and I’m not going to publish anything! I just want to see how the Luthor siblings interact when they’re forced to run the world together.”

“Like that’s ever going to happen.” Lena scoffed.

“You understand you’re trying to get a date out of this, right?”

“I haven’t forgotten, dear.”

They had reached the door of the President’s next meeting, but remained standing outside with barely a foot of tension between them.

“Here’s a thought,” Lena continued, “since I don’t agree with you, how about you come over for dinner tonight and convince me otherwise.”

“Fine,” Kara sighed, “You understand this is a business dinner, not a fling or a date, right?

“I understand completely.” She said the picture of innocence.

“I’m not going to be painted as the President’s Mistress.” Kara mumbled as she turned and started walking down the hall.

“If it’s a business dinner you should bring your notebook.” Lena called after her. She didn’t need to see the President’s face to know she was sporting a Cheshire grin.

-           -           -

Maggie walked into Cat’s office with a bit of trepidation. It wasn’t that she did something wrong, but there wasn’t much happening around here aside from the situation in the Levant and she was definitely up to date with the state department. So either she missed something or things were about to get much worse.

“Why did you want to see me?” She asked, but Cat didn’t even bother to look up from her computer.

“I wanted to tell you that Lex called President Naaji this morning to discuss a possible retreat, but he’s still on the phone so it can’t be going too well. I’ll need you to start prepping to brief the press on the possibility of US troop involvement.”

“Why is _Lex_ calling him? Shouldn’t it be the ambassadors?”

“They’re old friends.” Cat said and finally stopped typing to look at Maggie with a confused tilt of the head.

“Were they roommates?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t think this was an important bit of information to tell me?” Maggie was very proud of herself for keeping her voice even and her emotions out of it—for now.

“I didn’t think it was that important.” Cat shrugged.

“I got the question.” Maggie pushed.

“In the briefing?” she sounded shocked that anyone might’ve actually brought it up.

“No, _Kara Danvers_ who’s not even in the press corps asked me about it.”

“You don’t think…” Cat’s face got deathly pale.

“It wasn’t Alex or Lena if that’s what you’re thinking,” Maggie waved her off and fell into the seat across from her boss. “She got the number of a reliable source at the DOD somehow, but that’s not the point.”

“Enlighten me then.” Cat sat back and laced her fingers together on the desk.

“She asked the question and I denied it. I called it ridiculous, and she hit the nail right on the head. I made fun of her, Cat!” So much for keeping her emotions in check.

“Was there a point in there somewhere?”

“How in the hell does _Kara_ have this type of information, but not the fucking press secretary?”

“We’re using back channels to try and solve this mess without a trial by fire. It’s not something I really want the press knowing right now.” Even Cat was getting a little hot under the collar—serves her right for lying.

“You still could’ve told _me_.” Maggie snarled, “I wouldn’t have told them.”

“This one time we erred on the side of caution—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Maggie said holding her hands before her. “ _we_?”

“ _I_ erred on the side of—”

“You kept me uninformed so I’d lie to anyone who—”

“I sent you in there uninformed because I thought there was a chance you couldn’t!”

“They don’t know me!” She lashed out and stood up to pace around the front of Cat’s desk. Of all the bad habits to pick up from her girlfriend, it was the pacing that was most surprising. “I’m a defense attorney from the middle of bum-fuck nowhere just south of Canada. If it had been the press that asked instead of Kara this would’ve destroyed all credibility that I had cultivated with them over the past three years. Either I’m a trusted member of senior staff or I’m not, Cat, which is it?”

Cat took a deep breath to calm herself before responding, “You are.”

“Well?” Maggie asked reclaiming her seat, but looking twice as exhausted.

“What?”

“Apologize!”

“I’m not gonna—”

“Cat.”

“I’m sorry!” Cat managed to get out through gritted teeth.

Maggie donned a small smile, just to rub salt in the wound. “Thank you.”

“Fuck off, Margret.” Cat said waving her out of the office.

“It’s _Margherita_ , and I’m gonna grab Kara for that phone call.” Maggie said as she stomped towards the door.

“Like hell you are!” Cat yelled as she left.

“Watch me, Kitten!” she shouted down the hall. Now she only had to figure out how to get Kara into the room without incurring the wrath of the President.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously I don't speak Arabic, and I don't expect you to either, but I've tried to make it known who was speaking and in what language.  
> Just in case:  
> Single quotations = Lena translating for Maruf  
> Italics = Arabic

The mess was practically empty after the lunch rush, but Alex and Kara sat at their usual far corner table picking at their trays. Well, Kara was picking at her salad, but her sister was practically inhaling her sandwich and trying to carry the conversation all at the same time.

“I understood none of that.” Kara said as Alex managed to swallow the massive bite of her turkey club.

“I’m staying with Maggie this weekend.”

“Oh, okay.” Kara looked to her tray to continue reorganizing her salad.

“I can stay with you if you’re that broken up about it.” Alex tried to make it light, but Kara could tell she was worried about her.

“It’s fine, really!” She reassured her, “I’m going to be stuck here for the State of the Union anyway.”

Alex put down her sandwich and dusted off her hands before fixing Kara with a look that could curdle milk.

“All right, spit it out.”

“It’s nothing, just…I had a great morning and even got a scoop, but one thing led to another and I ended up playing all my cards and losing.”

Alex chuckled a bit and started in on her chips.

“What?” Kara asked.

“You don’t think you won anything, but word on the street is that you have a hot date tonight.”

“Alex! That’s got nothing to do with my work!”

“Who cares?” Alex scoffed.

“I do!” Kara pushed her tray away put her head on the table. “I don’t want to be nothing. I don’t have any ambitions of being great, but I’d at least like to publish something other than lifestyle pieces and White House insiders.”

“You’ll find your place, just go with the flow for now.” Alex said while poking he shoulder.

At that moment, Maggie nearly knocked over a table in her hast to reach their back corner.

“Babe, you okay?” Alex asked, halfway out of her chair.

“Fine.” She smiled and gave Alex a peck on the cheek before grabbing Kara by the arm and dragging her out of her chair. “You were right about Lex’s grad school roommate, Cat pissed me off, and now this is happening.”

“What’s going on?” Kara managed to ask.

“I can get you in on the phone call with Maruf, but we need to go now!”

“What?!”

“See you later, sis!” Alex called with a laugh as the two women stumbled and ran out of the mess.

-           -           -

Lena entered the office of the Vice President to the noise of at least three people shouting at once. Her brother and Maruf were clearly having one of their more childish moments and the poor translator looked like he was about to faint at having to call the Vice President an ‘assclown.’ What she did not expect to see was her press secretary and a reporter sitting in the bay window eating lunch. What the hell were they doing here?

“Maruf!” Lex yelled. “Take a breath dammit! Pres—Mari!”

He turned to Lena’s confused look and gestured to the phone, “It’s been like this for the past half hour at least.”

They both hid a smirk, but Lena walked over to the women while Lex continued trying to weather the storm.

“Maggie, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Probably getting myself fired.” Lena had to hand it to her, at least the girl was honest.

“And what about you, Ms. Danvers?”

“The Vice President was hungry so we brought him some snacks,” the blonde bluffed, “when he saw we hadn’t eaten lunch he invited us to stay.”

Lena glanced between the two women, their pathetic excuse for a lunch (M&M candies), and her brother to see just what he thought of all this.

“I thought it’d be fun if Kara knew exactly how well-liked we are by the world.” Lex laughed and went back to throwing his own insults at the President of Lebanon.

“I’m assuming this is a punishment for Cat in some way?” Lena asked and Maggie nodded. “Fine. Ms. Danvers, you don’t happen to speak Arabic, do you?”

“Uh…no?”

“Then we might be able to salvage some of this day after all.”

The last thing she needed was a reporter knowing the dirty details of her time in the Levant, no matter how cute that reporter happened to be. She walked over to the translator and dismissed him only to pick up the satellite headset herself before sitting on the edge of Lex’s desk. She caught Kara gulp out of the corner of her eye when she crossed her legs—dammit! Siobhan had only been in the building for a few hours and she was already relearning bad habits.

“ _Maruf, this is Lena Luthor_ ,” She called into the phone and waited as the president calmed down.

“ _Little Lena?_ ” Lex gave an eye roll at the old nickname.

“Maruf, I don’t mind translating, but I will not be shouted at like that and you know it so knock it off.”

“I’m sorry.” He said switching back to English.

“Lex called you because he thought you were friends. I don’t know about you, but I don’t yell at my friends like that.”

“It was not my intention, Ms. President.”

Lena took a good look at Kara before switching back into Arabic. “ _We’re gonna try this again, but if you start yelling, I’ll make sure everyone in the world knows you walked across campus in nothing but your socks._ ”

“ _You were the one who stole my clothes in the first place!_ ”

“ _That’s what happens when you piss me off, Mari._ ”

Maruf gave a heavy sigh before turning his attention back to the Vice President. “What do you want, Lex?”

Lex spoke directly to the phone, but periodically looked up to hear Lena translating his words. “We need you to stand down your forces.”

‘Say that again?’

“We need you to stand down your forces on the border, Maruf. That’s the only way this is going to stop and you know it. It’s crucial you pullback before this conflict takes another escalating step forward.”

‘What guarantee do I have that President Zaheer will do the same?’

“None.”

Maruf’s laughter came through the speaker, and Lena locked eyes with her brother encouraging him to continue before Mari resorted to name-calling again.

“We’re going to have to trust each other a little, Mari. I’ll make sure President Zaheer doesn’t do anything drastic without you knowing about it, but you’re going to have to trust us—Lena and I. And you’re going to have to trust Zaheer.”

‘You and I go back quite a ways, Lex.’

Everyone in the room waited with baited breath as the silence stretched on. Finally Maruf gave another sigh and threw in the towel.

‘We’ve managed to barely hold these countries together with both our hands for thirty years now.’

“Only because of conversations like these.” Lex stressed to his friend.

It was an annual thing for Lex to go back and visit Israel and his friends in the Levant. Ever since their father was officially labeled a traitor, he would get on a plane and visit ground zero where he was welcomed with open arms by the region. Not surprising considering their father is the only reason the countries weren’t decimated by nuclear missiles.

‘I’m going to call President Zaheer, but I want you to stay on the line.’ Maruf said and began telling his own staffers to get the President of Syria on the phone.

Lena took this opportunity to have some fun with her old friend. She couldn’t even imagine the stress he was under right now. “ _How is it that, in all his visits, my brother has never managed to pick up Arabic?_ ”

“ _You’d think after learning Hebrew, Arabic would be_ easy,” he chuckled, “ _I think he only learned the language because he fancied the beautiful women of Israel._ ”

“ _Can’t say I blame him!_ ” They both shared a good laugh at that. She and Siobhan went to visit her brother at grad school during the summer of their junior year and the stories have forever lived in infamy.

“You two about done yet?” Lex asked. He hated being the only one out of the loop.

“Sorry.” Lena and Maruf said in tandem, which only caused them to laugh more.

Maruf sobered up immediately and announced that the call was being patched through and Lena went back to translating his message to Syria.

‘President Zaheer, we will maintain our defensive alert for the moment… but our offensive forces are retreating 10 miles behind our defensive line. If you do the same, I propose a phased mutual stand-down over the next six hours.’

“He hung-up.” Lena told the room.

“Thank you, Mari.” Lex said.

“We’ll see,” Maruf said in English through the speaker, “But for now I have only the promise of your sister beating you to death with her stiletto heels if my people are killed.”

Lex broke into a grin and said, “You know she’d make good on that promise.”

“Thank you, Mari,” Lena called, “Give your wife a kiss for me.”

“I will, but I won’t tell her it’s from you,” Lena always loved the sound of his laugh, carefree and bright no matter what trouble they had managed to get themselves into. “She might just leave me.”

They said their goodbyes and Lena put down the headset before looking to her brother. They always feared a resurgence of conflict in the Levant, but with their friend in the middle of the first hiccup they couldn’t just stand by and watch from half a world away.

“Is Smythe working on a solution for Syria?” Lex asked.

“God, I hope so.” Lena said. It was only then that she remembered Kara and Maggie were in on their phone call. Maggie didn’t seemed phased by the discussion, after all she was used to the siblings and their frequent diplomatic phone conversations. Kara was an entirely different story. There was a look in her eye that might’ve worried Lena on any other day, a sort of predatory glint that made Lena feel as if she were the next item on the menu. Apparently there was some heat under that layer of sunny charm after all.


	46. Chapter 46

The three women walked back to the oval office in companionable conversation. Lena worried she might’ve pushed Kara too far in some way with that phone conversation, maybe it was just the legs thing? No, she was definitely taken aback, but not legitimately licking her lips like at the end of that phone call. The President chose to steer the conversation to a safe, neutral territory of Maggie and Alex’s weekend plans before their inevitable meeting with Siobhan. But when the time came, as always, no safety net could’ve saved them from the blunt force trauma of Ms. Smythe.

“Everyone, I want you to meet Siobhan Smythe.” She announced as the woman of the hour sauntered into the oval office.

“Hello, hello.” Maggie was the first to fall under her notice. “Lena, have I mentioned how truly wonderful your staff is?”

“Only about seven times.” Cat muttered under her breath.

“Siobhan, this is the reporter I was telling you about.” Lena desperately tried to keep the conversation moving in the hopes that Siobhan would cut to the chase and not focus on her dinner date for the night. “Ms. Danvers, this is a good friend of mine from school—”

“Siobhan Smythe.” She practically breathed into Kara’s neck as they met for a brush of the cheek.

“N-nice to meet you.” Kara managed while her eyes darted quickly between the two brunettes.

“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.” Siobhan drawled as she slipped between Kara and Lena to reach the dry bar.

“Is she drunk?” Kara whispered to her.

“Very.” Lena responded. This was definitely not good. Take that back, it was great for them because it meant that the negotiations with Syria had gone swimmingly. But it was terrible for Lena because she knew from experience that Siobhan’s flirtatious nature was only amplified by alcohol.

“Lena, she is absolutely gorgeous, and with a brain to match, I’m sure.” Siobhan said after tucking the blonde’s hair behind her ear and tracing the length of her arm on her way to the couch. Kara shuddered involuntarily and Lena felt her patience threshold diminish to absolute zero. “A magnificent selection for the piece, darling.”

“How were your meetings, Siobhan?” She asked to keep things moving, preferably away from the topic of Kara.

“Well, after talking at length with your joint chiefs—which, by the way, I have to say that you could’ve made better choices in that regard, all old angry men but that one, and she was married!”

“Siobhan.”

“Buy them off. Use the carrot and stick method. Pick some leader, make them particularly wealthy, then threaten to take it all away.”

“We can’t do that!” Cat exclaimed.

“Yes, thank you for clearing that up. Having been educated at Galway and Trinity, I am, as you know, exceedingly stupid.”

This meeting must’ve set a personal record for the sheer number of times they’ve gone completely off the rails.

“What would Syria even want?” Lena asked.

Siobhan took another large sip of her scotch before responding, “Infrastructure. They see Israel’s success, and Lebanon was following suit with their trade agreements. Syria wants a piece of that pie.”

“Why would we help them?” Cat asked from the sidelines.

“It’s the price you pay for avoiding a war halfway around the world.” She crossed her legs and narrowed her predatory glance at Lena for at least the thousandth time in their many years together. Too bad Lena would always be the one she couldn’t catch.

“And you’re still close to President Zaheer?” Lena asked with a raised brow.

“Yes,” she said with a sigh having acquiesced to yet another dismissal by Lena.

“He’ll go for this?”

“If it’s handled right.” Siobhan turned her smirk back to her scotch, clearly thinking about her impending trip to Syria.

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to offer a trade incentive to them after they nearly started a war.” Cat said shaking her head.

Lena simply nodded her consent to the proposal and Cat quickly left the room to get started. It was just the four of them now; Maggie trying to decide if she should stay and attempt to protect Kara from the sirens in the room, and Lena perilously toeing the line between resuming her bad habits and throttling her best friend for so blatantly attempting to seduce her date.

“May I inquire, Madam President—”

Lena tried to cut her off right then and there, but she honestly should’ve known better by now.

“You may absolutely not.”

“—The first thing that attracted you to the lovely Ms. Danvers, was it her magnificent buttocks?”

“What?!” Kara squeaked.

“Okay, well, that was fun while it lasted.” Lena said and promptly stole Siobhan’s drink right out of her hand.

“Or perhaps her absolutely divine musculature—look at those biceps!” Siobhan continued while giving Kara the once-over.

“Uh… thanks?” The reporter said. Lena downed the rest of the scotch in Siobhan’s glass before continuing.

“You know, Siobhan, there are places in this world where it’s considered rude to comment so boldly on another’s physical attributes.”

“Thank god we don’t live there!” She cried and stood up to stretch. “Well, it was lovely meeting your debonair lady, but I’m on a plane to visit Zaheer in an hour… still many things to settle.”

“Good luck.” Lena said and pulled her friend into a hug.

“As I always say, ‘may the gods grant me health and hope; I’ll steal the rest!’” She then proceeded to walk out the door and right into Jess’ filing cabinet.

Luckily Mike was there to chaperone her journey to the airport taxi. Unluckily for him, there was no one around to soften the force of Siobhan at her most provocative state. It was quite possibly the most uncomfortable 300-yard walk of his entire life.


	47. Chapter 47

For the second time that month, Kara found herself escorted by the secret service to the Presidential residences. Instead of awkwardly standing in the middle of the bright yellow room, she walked over to Connor’s adjoining door and gave a firm knock. She didn’t have to wait long before the boy cracked the door just far enough to catch a glimpse of her.

“Kara!” He shouted and flung the door open before running to hug her legs.

“Hey, how was your day?” she asked as he let go and dragged her back to his room.

“Good,” he said and ran over to his bed to grab a beanie, “Daddy got me a new shirt, do you like it?”

Kara gently turned him around so she could read the faded lettering on the over-sized grey shirt. ‘Mr. Steal Your Girl’ ran down the side in bold letters.

“I think it’s cute, and I’m sure your mother will love it.” Kara smiled and Canner laughed at her subtle joke.

“She’s in a meeting.” He pouted.

“She always is, isn’t she?” Kara tapped her forehead in thought for a moment. “We should start getting extra dessert whenever she’s late to dinner, don’t you think?”

“Yeah!” he called and gave her a high five. “It’s not fair because she’s not even meeting with people.”

The pair began making their way to the family dining room as Conner took the opportunity to complain to someone new.

“What’s she doing then?”

“Hiding.” That was certainly a different answer than what she was expecting.

“Hiding from us?”

“From everyone.” Conner took his time picking out superhero plates and glasses for them to set the table with. “She’s in the sitting room looking at maps and stuff.”

“The Sit-Room?”

“Yeah.” Now she understood. Something must’ve happened with Lebanon and Syria for Lena to be called to the situation room this late in the day.

“Let’s get this potato bar started!” Lena called as she finally entered the room looking completely exhausted.

“Kara says we get extra sweets because you were late.” Conner wasted no time in throwing his new friend under the bus.

“Is that so?” Lena smirked at her.

“It’s only fair.” She scoffed and continued setting the dishes and fixings on the table.

“I see we all got the black and white memo this time.” She joked. Both women were sporting some form of stripes while Conner pulled up his baggy shirt to show off his striped belt.

“Mommy, look!” he said and held out his shirt so Lena could ready the message.

“Is that new?” she asked with skepticism, “I have no memory of buying such a thing.”

Conner gave a particularly devilish smile while responding, “Daddy bought it.”

“Of course she did.” Lena chuckled and continued preparing Conner’s potato. “In that case, I love it.”

The conversation flowed easily from one topic to another and Kara was reminded just how warm it felt being in the same room as the Luthors. They never once seemed to be the hoity-toity elitists she feared only a short while ago. And why she thought Lena would be as pro-military as her opponents claimed was completely beyond her at this point.

“He’s getting so big.” Lena commented from her place on the couch in Conner’s room. They had retired there after dinner to eat their ice cream and watch one of the boy’s favorite TV shows, but Conner had passed out shortly after his last spoonful. He was now snuggled into the tiny space between the two women with his head resting in Lena’s lap.

“He’s really wonderful, Lena.” Kara said with a genuine smile. The president continued stroking her son’s hair as Kara remembered what Conner said about the situation room before dinner.

“Was everything all right in Syria?” she asked.

Lena hummed trying to place what Kara was talking about. “Oh, yeah, everything is fine there. But there’s always a crisis somewhere.”

“I only ask because Conner mentioned you were late because you were in the ‘sitting’ room looking at maps.”

They shared a quiet laugh at the boy’s antics before Lena barely managed to carry Conner over to his bed for the night.

“Would you care for a drink?” she asked.

“I’d love one, thanks.”

Kara followed her down past the kitchen and dining rooms to the first floor museum portion of the White House. Although she had been running around the West Wing of the building with hundreds of interns and reporters for a month now, she had never actually been in the White House proper aside from her various dinner dates. At this hour the hallways had an intimacy about them that could only be caused by the soft glow of the lights and the void of people. They were both nursing mugs of warm cocoa as they walked about the ground floor discussing various points in the day without actually saying anything at all.

“One of my advisors, Jethro, called me in tonight because he thought there was some odd troop movement off the coast of Taiwan.”

“We have soldiers in Taiwan?” Kara asked.

“Just instructors sent to train some of their guys.” Lena began looking through the doorways of each room they passed trying to find something or someone. “Here it is.”

Kara followed her into a beautiful sitting room lined with shelves and filled to the brim with gold vases and decretive serving platters. In the evening light of the ten-armed glass chandelier seemed to give the room an effervescent glow.

“This is one of my favorite rooms,” Lena said, “and it’s not because everything’s shiny.”

“The Vermeil Room.” Kara remembered from her first day at the White House. She had grabbed a brochure to leaf through as she was waiting for Rhea to finish writing her latest abstract. “Silver covered in gold.”

“I like the metaphor. It’s not what it appears to be, but it’s not disappointing either.”

“You’re not worried about the reputation?” Kara asked as she took a turn about the room. “Some people see it as a symbol of a bloody and tyrannical oppression of its own people after Louis the 15th melted them down to pay for his civil wars.”

Lena remained standing by one of the displays featuring a gorgeous centerpiece basin being held aloft by three Greek beauties. “The White House has one of the largest collections in the world. Many craftsmen were blinded by mercury while making them. Seems like a waste to melt it down for raw materials.”

“It’s part of our history.”

Lena nodded at her words, “we can’t lock it in the basement or brush it with a new coat of paint. We have to own it.”

Kara returned to stand by her side with her face bathed in the soft glow of moonlight. The vision wasn’t lost on Lena as she gazed at the woman’s profile. Her rational brain told her the crystalized beams of light were nothing more than refractions caused by the glass of the chandelier, but no matter the reason, she was simply…

“Beautiful.” She breathed barely above a whisper.

“Madam President,” Kara said as she turned away to hide her burning cheeks behind a lock of hair, “have you ever noticed the filigree on the handle of the—”

“Kara, do you ever think there’ll be a time where you don’t think of me as the President?” she asked, which caused Kara to turn back towards her voice. They were barely a foot apart as Lena gazed into the bright blue eyes before her.

“It’s not a state of mind—you _are_ the President.” Kara looked into her cocoa mug to avoid Lena’s eyes. “And when I’m with you, I’ll always be no one of consequence… just Kara.”

She reached up to tuck the unruly blonde strand back and trace the outline of her cheek.

“I happen to like ‘just Kara.’” As the woman bent her head to rest against Lena’s brow.

“You think this is a good idea?” Kara breathed.

“I no longer care.”

Lena could practically feel the blonde’s neck quiver as she forced herself to breathe. She moved her hand along the back of her neck and gently pulled Kara towards her. All of her senses were on high alert. She could feel the warmth of the cocoa in her hand, the rough texture of the dress, and Kara’s hand trembling on her elbow. She glanced up once to see Kara lick her lips and then the world melted away as they met.

“Madam President?”

Kara and Lena broke apart as if they had been shocked. Lena turned to face the agent standing in the doorway with a look that rivaled most attack dogs.

“T-there’s a secure call, M-ma’am,” he continued under her scrutiny. “from the sit-room. It’s a-an emergency.”

The agent looked like Lena was threatening not only his life, but also the life of a most beloved pet—serves him right. She turned back to Kara who had only just managed to regain her composure at the whiplash of emotions swirling about the room.

“I’m sorry, please excuse me.” She said before setting down her mug and practically fleeing the room.

Kara remained standing in the middle of the room with her mug of cocoa as cold panic replaced all the warmth she had felt only moments ago.

“H-hey, Richard… um, did you catch the Skin’s game?” she tried.

“Ma’am.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s baseball season.” He said with a crooked smile.

“Sure, okay.” She glanced about the room under his careful surveillance for a little before facing him again, “There’s no chance you could keep this between us, right?”

“Ma’am?”

“Could you maybe _not_ tell my sister about what just happened?” Kara asked as the blush returned to her cheeks.

“I’ve got fifty bucks riding on you two not kissing until after the State of the Union, so it’d actually be a huge service to me if you kept it quiet until then.” He said with a smile.

“Deal.” She said as Lena returned to the room with a somber expression.

“We’re going to have to cut this evening short. The training base in Taiwan has just been destroyed.” Lena took a deep breath and took her mug from Kara’s proffered hand.


	48. Chapter 48

Eleven o’clock and Lena was back in the situation room for the fourth time in two days. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the world was testing the resolve of her ‘no casualties’ policy. Lex arrived shortly after, clearly already in his pajamas for the night.

“I don’t even want to know why you’re still in your work clothes.” He said before taking his seat next to her.

“I was going over some—”

“Nope,” he cut her off, “you forget that I can tell when you’re lying so let me just pretend that you fell asleep on the couch or something.”

Lena couldn’t stop the bush from creeping up her neck and settling onto her cheeks.

“Yeah, that’s convincing.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned his attention back to the commanders lining the table before them. “What happened?”

“Madam President,” Jethro looked twice as tired as she felt, “the base in Taiwan has been hit by two torpedoes and a couple of RPGs. There were a few casualties, but most of the units were out at sea for a training exercise. The Taiwanese have captured the pirates that attacked the base…”

Lena dropped her head into her hands and stared at the wood pattern of the table as she processed the information her commanders were relaying to her. That’s why everything felt off before; she was so stupid not to notice. There had been a buildup of Chinese troops on the southern border, but not to attack anything. Why didn’t she see it sooner!

“Ma’am?” Jethro called with a soft touch to her elbow.

“You want to hit them, don’t you?” She asked in a hollow voice.

“Attacking China would be massive breach of, like, fourteen treaties.” Lex argued.

“Not China,” she said, “Vietnam.”

“I clearly missed something.”

“The Chinese paid off their government to house the boats, troops, and weaponry for a few weeks.” Jethro explained. “Then, once our personnel arrived and began their regular drills, they attacked.”

“What are our options?” Lena asked with a heavy sigh.

“The port, the Chinese embassy, or their capital building.”

“There isn’t anything else?” Lex asked.

“Nothing that could easily draw a line between the attack on Taiwan and China.”

“Damian?” Lena called as she finally picked her head up.

“I think we should hit the embassy. It’s not a direct assault on either party, and the casualties are minimal.”

“That’s in the middle of downtown Hanoi!” Lex cried.

“Jethro, what’s the plan?” Lena turned to her advisor for guidance.

“Lena, you cannot seriously be considering this.” Lex rounded on her. “How am I suddenly the white dove in the room?”

Lena gave her brother a pleading look before turning back to her commanders. This was hard enough already without her brother piling on the guilt.

“We’ll level the building, Ma’am.” Jethro said.

“We’re not going to miss?”

“Absolutely not, Ma’am.”

Lena’s hands were clammy and she could feel her chest heaving to pull in enough oxygen to counter the panic-induced adrenaline. How did people willingly sign up for the military if this is what it felt like to play god with other people’s lives. She turned to Lex with wide eyes for guidance, but he just stared at her in disbelief.

“Lena, why not the port?” he asked.

“That’s people’s livelihood, and the capital is their government. The embassy is the only option that would cause the least amount of damage in the long run.”

Lex nodded his head in understanding and rested his chin on laced fingers to think.

“How many people work in the building?” She asked Damian.

“The night shift has less than a third of the people slated for the daily shift.”

“Custodial staff, right?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He nodded and looked down at his notepad.

Who would’ve thought that only three years ago this group of people would’ve jumped at the chance to strike back? And now here they were avoiding each other’s gaze, knowing that their only option was to fire back. They had all changed so much in her time in office, but would it be a lasting effect? She had four years, four short years to completely shift how the United States responded to attacks on their citizens. She hated working with these guys and their happy trigger fingers, but maybe she finally understood their point of view. Three years later and they didn’t want to do this any more than she did.

“What time does the night shift go on?” She asked.

“The building will be close to empty by eleven tomorrow morning.” Damian responded.

Lena stood up and the table of commanders followed suit.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate proportional responses?” She said to her brother’s stony face. She turned back to the naval commander and gave him the all clear before exiting the room.

Her feet led her straight to the dry bar in the oval office and she downed a glass of scotch before pouring a second. Lex walked into the room behind her and took a long pull from the bottle of whiskey he carried over from his office. The siblings sat at the dueling couches and started setting up a game of chess.

When her oval office shift started at four that morning, Alex found the President and Vice President completely passed out on their couches with half-empty bottles beside them.


	49. Chapter 49

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

James sat on Mike’s desk outside the oval office flipping through every news channel known to mankind on Jess’ little TV. It seemed more and more likely that the news would never stop replaying the joint press conference with the Luthor siblings.

“A stunning demonstration of the continuity of Constitutional government. In a solemn and hastily arranged ceremony in the early hours of the morning Vice President Lex Luthor was sworn in as President…”

Hastily arranged? It was the dead of night and no more than six hours after they had essentially raided the White House residences before grabbing Conner right out of Jess’ arms. Next.

“A two-term Senator from New York who ascended to the Vice Presidency with his adoptive sister’s Presidential campaign; a notoriously staunch supporter of the military and veterans much to his sister’s chagrin…”

He’s not the story you tightwad, he’s just a glorified cardboard cutout. And what the hell was all this about supporting the military? The only thing Lex is known for is supporting the _veterans_ ; you know, finding gainful employment. Next.

“Nearly 10 years older, Lex Luthor has always been a steadfast proponent of a strong national defense…”

Good god, someone needs to fuck these guys gently with a rake.

“Hey,” Jess snapped at him, “that was vulgar even by my standards. Tone it down or turn off the TV.”

“Sorry, Jess, I didn’t know I was thinking out loud.” James said as he stood from Mike’s desk to lean against the filing cabinets. Lex looked so big standing at that podium next to Lena, but that’s not surprising considering he had about a foot and one hundred pounds on her.

“I think we might’ve made a mistake.” He said to no one in particular.

“How do you figure that?” Maggie had entered the room silently as James was watching CSPAN’s replay coverage of the press conference. She dropped off her files for Jess and started leafing through the piles on Mike’s desk to find her schedule. “Have you been watching CNN or MSNBC? Hell, even _FOX_ is treating it as a seminar on the resiliency of the Constitution.”

“Yeah, but still…” James said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“She demonstrated that she’s a true leader; nobly embracing her own flawed humanity. I think you need to take a chill pill.” She smirked and smacked the back of his head with her file folder.

“Besides,” Maggie continued, “Isn’t it a good thing that we have a leader who knows her limits?”

“What about our limits?” Mike had walked in at the tail end of Maggie’s speech.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’d level L-Corp to the ground to get him back.” James certainly believed him with the hostile look in his eye. Twenty bucks said Mike had cursed out about people this morning. The man was insistent on calling CPS every hour on the hour if for no other reason than to piss them off.

“I’d carpet bomb the entirety of National City and that slime ball if it meant getting Connor back.” Jess said from her place at the computer. Everyone turned to look at the petite woman in her stylish cardigan. She barely looked like the world’s most dangerous librarian on her best days, but with her face eerily reminiscent of Lena’s even James had to give the girl some credit. There would be no hesitation if someone asked her to nuke the sunshine state.

Luckily Cat walked in to yell at the lot of them for not working, but James quickly steered he mind to the older Luthor.

“What if they like Lex better?” James asked, turning his attention back to the TV set. “What if he seems more Presidential…What if they want him to stay?”

“Keep your shirt on, will you?” she said, “In a few days, Lena will have strong-armed anyone and everyone between her and her son, but whatever the aftermath, she _will_ return to the White House. And Lex will try his best to stay out of her way as she rains justice and moral sanity upon our rot-stricken lower government.”

“What if it doesn’t take a few days? What if it takes weeks, months? What if… what if she never gets him back?” James asked.

Everyone silently waited for Cat’s response, but James was fighting off a heart attack assuming that he was three seconds away from being yelled at.

“James,” Cat said calmly, “I’d like for you to imagine a world in which Lena would actually let that happen because, I’m telling you, it would take a Bradley assault unit to stop that woman.”

-           -           -

Lex was having a bad day. It wasn’t one of those ‘roll out of bed and hate the world’ sort of bad days. It was a full on ‘literally everything is falling apart at the seams and I’d actually prefer if I never saw tomorrow’ type of bad day. There was definitely something to be said for Lena waking up every damn day to deal with this level of nonsense. The girl had never wanted to be President, but _no_ , let’s get her to run. And now he’s here dealing with a nation that couldn’t be led out of crisis with all 55 president’s working on it— _56_ presidents…Shit.

First he had to _not_ get arrested for fighting the manager of CPS for kidnapping his nephew. Then he was thrust into a presidency while Lena got to have all the fun ripping that particular agency to ribbons. And now here he sat, fourteen crises later, listening to Jethro tell him some bullshit that’ll one hundred percent lead to his sister committing fratricide.

“No.” Lex spat as soon as the general entered the office of the Vice President. “Go away.”

“Mr. President, Last night—”

“Look at where you are right now,” he interrupted.

“ _Sir_ , Last night Colonel Dabrezil’s soldiers surrounded Liberty Square to prevent a victory rally by supporters of the newly elected President Remy. Some of the crowd refused to disperse when the first shots were fired.”

“See?” Lex said throwing his pen down on the desk, “That right there is _exactly_ why I didn’t want you coming in here.”

He took a deep breath and stood from his desk to follow the general down to the situation room. Once inside, he sat at his regular seat much to the surprise of the joint chiefs. He’s not even using her office, what the hell made them think he was going to take her seat at the head of the table?

“Was anybody killed?” he asked.

The new CIA director, Damian, was the first to responded. “Two people that we know of and the military has also surrounded the house of the Minister of Justice.”

“They’re claiming it’s protective custody?”

“Yes,” Jethro chimed in, “but it’s house arrest.”

“Do we have any intelligence agents down there?”

“It’s _chaos_ down there, Sir,” Damian said, “ _nobody_ knows anything. You need to evacuate the non-essential personnel from the embassy.”

“Mister President—Sir,” Jethro quickly corrected at Lex’s harsh look, “any move to evacuate the embassy, even the non-essentials, will be a highly visible signal that the United States has no confidence in the Haitian government.”

“There is no Haitian government at the moment.” Damian countered.

“Evacuate the embassy; get some marines down there to make sure everyone gets out.” Lex said as he stood from the table to leave, “And somebody wake admiral Taylor and get him down here!”


	50. Chapter 50

After a much-needed cold shower and a long brunch with her son, Lena returned to the oval office shortly before noon to find the senior staff already waiting for her. They all looked a little worse for wear, which meant word about last night’s attack had made its rounds about the building. James was even wearing a freshly pressed shirt so the news must’ve hit them just as hard.

“Maggie, as soon as I get word from the naval commander that our planes are back on the destroyer, you can tell the press.”

Maggie merely nodded and took down her notes with a worried glance to James. This was their first counter-strike with known casualties of Lena’s entire presidency. She knew Cat was thinking about the possibility of using this news cycle as part of the campaign, but there was no way the President would ever go for it.

“Have you thought about a national address?” Cat asked.

James could feel Cat’s subtle flinch as Lena turned to her with the full force of the office behind her marble expression. The dark circles under her eyes only increased the terror factor and James was suddenly very interested in the color of his shoelaces.

“The last thing I want to do is use this tragedy as a political stunt.” Lena practically spat. “The other candidates might spend the entire day praising my actions or waxing poetically about what they would’ve done differently, but they weren’t the ones who gave the order last night.”

“You’ll still have to be the one to break the news to the press,” Cat insisted, “and that’s got nothing to do with political gain.”

“She’ right,” Maggie said, “This is—was, your first ever strike with a body count. What you did last night was very presidential and they can’t hear it from me.”

Lena took a deep breath and rose from her armchair to stand by the large bay windows overlooking the grounds. The sky was a clear blue, dotted with clouds, and the trees in the distance blew gently in the warm breeze. It was officially the start of summer in Washington and soon Conner would insist on campfires and picnics every weekend.

“I don’t know what to tell them, Maggie.” Lena admitted as her eyes welled with the unshed tears from last night. “Somewhere in Vietnam a janitor is mopping the floor like he always does. His family is probably back home sleeping soundly, completely unaware that he will never make it back. All because a President thousands of miles away decided his life was proportional to 3 Americans and 20 Taiwanese.”

She managed to wipe her tears without smearing her makeup too much. She watched as Jake made his usual rounds about the portico to trim up the bushes. He turned to the windows and waved at the President, completely unaware that she was crying for his double on the other side of the world. My god, what had she done?

“Last night we murdered twenty people in cold blood for no other reason than revenge. I just made the least Presidential decision of my entire career.”

-           -           -

Kara arrived that morning to find the White House filled with an eerie silence that seemed to press down on her from every direction. Clearly something had happened between last night and her return, but no one was talking. She decided to peek into the offices of the press and gather more information since the White House staff was remaining so tight-lipped. Just as she made it to the offices of the press corps, she was nearly run over by Rhea.

“Watch it, Kara,” she said, “The last thing I want is for you to spill my coffee all over the place.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little spooked by the quiet in here.” Kara handed over the coffee. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

Rhea let out a mournful sigh as she sat at her desk. There was obviously quite a lot that Kara missed last night.

“There were some pirates who attacked the new base in Taiwan. They traced the money and personnel back to China, but there’s noting much we can do about the base without pissing off that sleeping giant.”

“So the President just let it go?”

Rhea took a long sip of her coffee before responding. “I’m not so sure. Normally there’d be some sort of word by now, but… I don’t know. Something’s off.”

“You don’t think she would’ve attacked, do you?” Kara laughed it off like the woman was crazy. There’s no way Lena would’ve ended her pacifist streak just to avenge Taiwan’s base, would she?

“This would be the time to do it,” Rhea said, “You’re still new to this game, but China’s been pressing their buttons for quite a few years now. This is the first blatantly hostile attack from them, but things have definitely been heating up for awhile now.”

The two women sat in silence and worked on their respective columns and articles until they heard an announcement from Maggie’s secretary; there was going to be a press conference with the President herself.

-           -           -

Ten minutes later found Kara standing in the back of the room near the TV crews trying not to look too conspicuous. She wasn’t technically part of the White House press corps and therefore wasn’t supposed to be in the briefing room at all, but Rhea was able to sneak her into the back without too many reporters noticing.

She watched Maggie give a brief overview of the events of last night; Taiwan had been in the process of building their second and largest military base on the cost of the Taiwanese Straight. Although the tiny island was no match for the military might of China, they still had every right to defend their borders. Kara listened to Maggie’s voice drone on and on confirming everything the press already knew about the situation. Had Kara been siting with the rest of the print media, she might not have noticed Maggie’s hands shaking behind the podium as she outlined how the base was strictly build for defense before segueing to the pirate attack and China’s involvement.

“And now,” She concluded, “The President of the United States.”

Not a second after Maggie had finished, President Luthor came striding onto the stage as the press secretary faded into the background next to Cat Grant.

“Good afternoon,” Lena said and took a deep breath as the reporters chimed their own greetings; “Last night I ordered our armed forces to attack and destroy China’s satellite embassy in Vietnam in response to the unwarranted, unprovoked, and malicious attack on Taiwan’s new coastal military base. This indirect and covert attack on Taiwan cost the lives of both Taiwanese and American personnel.”

Kara saw the reporters in the room trying frantically to jot down as many notes as possible. This was certainly an unprecedented first for the Luthor administration and Kara felt her jaw drop at the news.

“We have tried to be the bigger party. We have tried leading the way. We have tried the turning the other cheek to China’s increased aggression towards their former province, but the time has come to stand our ground and support Taiwan in their infancy as an independent nation.”

Lena gave one last hard look to the cameras at the back of the room before opening the floor for questions.

“Was there anything at the base that could’ve been seen as offensive, rather than defensive, about the base in Taiwan?”

“No. This was a Naval training base only. The warships had no weapons of any kind and flew internationally recognized flags identifying them as such. The base had been under construction and undergoing routine training sequences for a year before the American personnel arrived to aid in the training.”

While Maggie effortlessly ran the podium of her briefing room, Kara could tell the President was feeling a bit off-kilter due to her surroundings. She was obviously used to dealing with a crowd and answering questions, but the intimacy of the room must have been throwing her off. She seemed to get her sea legs after one or two more questions about the base, but then everything went out the window.

“Madam President, there’s an unconfirmed report that you were with reporter Kara Danvers when you heard the news. Can you comment?”

Kara felt her heartbeat triple in speed and pled to whoever was listening that no one would turn to look at her. Thankfully for her, no one even knew she was in the room aside from Rhea, who didn’t so much as twitch in her general direction. She watched Maggie’s face pale and saw Cat’s elbow dig subtly into her side. The President for her part didn’t even seem fazed. In fact, she seemed more confused about why the question had come up in the first place.

“Yes, we had just finished eating dinner.” She responded as Maggie returned to her side by the podium.

“Last question!” Maggie called out.

“Would you care to comment on the status of your relationship with Ms. Danvers?” the reporter asked.

Kara could tell from Maggie’s face alone that the idiotic reporter who asked that would be getting nothing to publish for a few weeks. Not that’s she’d ever admit it, but she _was_ curious to see how Lena would respond to the man’s inquiry.

“I’m not entirely sure I understand what you’re trying to get at, Steve, but we just had dinner.” Lena said with a bit of tilt to her head.

“Can you tell us if she spent the night?” another reporter shouted from the back. Kara felt her cheeks burn at the implication alone, but thankfully Lena was able to maintain her composure.

“Just to be clear,” she began, “You’re asking me about a woman eating dinner at the White House after I just told you that a minimum of thirty people have been killed in the past twelve hours.”

If looks could kill, the two reporters would have been reduced to a pile of ash on the floor. Even the rest of the press corps was siding with Lena on this one. There was no doubt that things were going to get out of control in the near future now that her trips to the residences were out there, but this was not the proper forum.

Maggie ushered the President off the stage and back into the depths of the west wing to a resounding chorus of questions and pleas for information from the press. Kara finally remembered she was a topic piece standing in the midst of reporters hungry for a scoop and she promptly fled to her car before going home for the day. Suddenly her idea of attending the State of the Union and publishing her article after the party was turning into a terrible idea.


	51. Chapter 51

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

Three hours after they sent word to evacuate the embassy and a fussy Jethro dragged Lex back to the situation room. You’d think he’d have more respect for the country’s vice president, but no. Lex was fairly certain that there had been a military coup in the White House for five minutes that night as the secret service agents pick him up and damn near carried his ass back to the situation room. His feet touched the ground maybe twice, but he wouldn’t bet money on that.

“I see you’ve bade it back in one piece, Sir,” Jethro said with a smirk.

“Shove it up your ass,” Lex spat back, “You know as well as I do that if a _single_ person eats it on my watch, Lena won’t even bother asking for my resignation.”

“You boys need some adult supervision?” a voice called from the door.

Admiral Taylor had finally arrived already sifting through several documents and updates on his tablet. Adam Taylor was big even by Lex’s standards, but he could probably bench press the vice president even on his worse day. While Lena and Adam never seemed to get along, Lex and him had hit it off almost immediately due to their morbid and bone-dry humor.

“Where’s my number’s count?” he asked a group of aids off at the back of the room and continued to jot down notes. “Hmm. 500 soldiers, maybe 300 of them with AR-15s.”

“We sold those to them, didn’t we?” Lex asked with a groan. Lena was definitely going to kill him before the night was over…and then the poor speaker would have to be President of this mess of a country.

“You know, until a few hours ago they were on our side.” Adam deadpanned.

“Excellent. At least my last words to Lena will be ‘it was all your fault.’”

“Good luck trying to speak after she takes a baseball bat to your knees.” Adam turned to the pile of aides and joined them to personally look at the scroll of data on the monitors. “They’ve got two Bradley’s with 120-millimeter cannons and a couple of artillery tubes, Jethro.”

“And what do we have?” Lex asked from his place at the head of the table.

“At the embassy?” Adam let out a dry sort of laugh that made Lex immediately regret even asking. “37 marines with M-14s and Beretta side-arms. Sally, get me hooked up to operations.”

“So how does this work, Adam? If they take the embassy, do they send a note, fire a warning shot? What are we looking for here?”

“Mister President,” the admiral paused briefly to give Lex his undivided attention, “you’re down here because they’re taking the embassy.”

-           -           -

There are bad days and then there are days where you wish a meteor would blast the planet to pieces just to avoid the events that had transpired. After wasting three hours talking a load of nonsense with some idiot claiming to be Haiti’s ambassador, Lex was back in the situation room trying to make two dollars out of fifty cents.

“What are the conditions inside the embassy?”

“It’s still got running water, but the power’s been cut,” Damian responded, “The emergency generator has about 24 hours left.”

“Any injuries?”

“Not yet.”

“What are we facing outside?” Lex sat down and rested his fists on the table. “And for the love of god, please tell me they’re not attacking their own citizens.”

“They’re only targeting the president elect, his administrators, and the embassy.” Jethro reassured him as Lex finally started breathing again.

“There’s about 1200 troops with A-15s positioned outside the gates.” Adam continued, “They’re also got 105-millimeter Howitzers.”

“What’s next for us?”

“We’ve got access to a couple of helicopters and peacekeeping troops can be sent in with the aid of the United Nations.”

Lex dragged a hand down his face before deciding to roll the dice just one last time.

“Alright, let’s give it a go.” Lex said as he stood from the table and walked out of the room.

In his first week as President of the United States he had managed to fall short of all media expectations, completely terrify the staff, lose a prominent ally to a military coup after their second free election, and now send a group of helicopters into a de facto warzone. Overall he’d have to place himself somewhere above the psycho carrot and just below tricky dick. Excellent.

“Tell me some good news, Adam.” Lex said as he returned to the situation room. It hadn’t taken long for the task force to reorganize and enter Haitian airspace for their attempted rescue mission. They were certainly in the thick of it now.

“They’ll be taking embassy personnel in 40 seconds.”

“All right.” Lex nodded to himself as a radio blared to life from the speakerphone in the center of the table. The task force commander was relaying all radio transmissions through their secure line.

“Raven Command, Ajax 3 has all personnel secured. Lifting to Paris.” One of the pilots said.

“Copy. All clear, Ajax Team.” The commander replied. The faint sound of engines and blades could be heard through the line before the coms switched.

“Raven, Ajax 1 is taking fire from across the street. Ajax 1 is hit. Fire’s coming from the tail.”

Fucking hell, how did his sister do this? Lex was in desperate need of a new shirt and he began to worry if he was going to sweat right through his suit jacket.

“He’s got some injuries, but he’ll make it. Ajax 2 is engaged with a squad of troops with light machine guns. He’s engaging with rockets.”

“Come on, dammit.” Lex grumbled as he slammed his fist on the table. Just one half of a miracle, that’s all they needed.

“Raven Command, all targets neutralized. Returning to Paris.”

“Copy, Ajax 3. Any casualties?” the commander asked.

“Negative, Raven. Light injuries and a broken bird, but no casualties.”

“Hell yeah!” Lex shouted with a massive fist in the air. He quickly composed himself as the joint chiefs turned towards him with expressions of pure shock and confusion and an awkward silence filled the space.

“Okay,” Lex coughed into his hand in embarrassment, “All right, good job.”

“Breathe, Sir.” Adam said as he clapped a hand to the vice president’s shoulder.

“Yeah. I mean, I’m glad they’re safe, but…” Lex took out his pocket square and used to delicate fabric to wipe the coating of panic-induced sweat from his brow.

“But?” Adam asked. The Admiral actually tore his eyes away from his screen to stare at Lex in confusion.

“I just saw my life flash before my eyes, you know what I mean?” Lex clarified, still trying to get his breathing under control.

“No need to worry,” Adam said and returned to his tablet before heading to the exit, “She’d be very proud of you, Sir.”


	52. Chapter 52

Across the country on a beautiful third-story balcony overlooking California’s gold coast, a group of men sit enjoying fancy cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The magnificent circle driveway had been all but blocked off with limousines and BMWs since shortly after five o’clock. Women dressed to impress in sky-high heels and men in their best fitting Italian suits milled about the house behind them.

It was, of course, one of Clark’s infamous fundraisers, only this time the fat cats of California and beyond had gathered to announce his bid for the presidency that fall. Clark stood with his back to the sea holding court with half a dozen political insiders and shakers from the west coast.

“You’re overthinking it, Josh,” Senator Kent said, “the voters aren’t the least bit interested in _plans_ for economic growth. Sure, they want our economy to grow, but they couldn’t care less about the how and why of it all because they don’t understand economics!”

The group laughed at his joke and several people from inside the house ventured outside for a chance to stand in the senator’s spotlight, even if just for a second or two.

“So it comes down to character?” someone in the crowd asked.

“The reporters like him,” Josh told Clark, “They want more access to the first family, but they don’t hate her as a President. To be honest, there’s not much _to_ dislike about Luthor’s ‘middle of the road’ leadership.”

“Exactly.” Clark conceded with a smirk, “She was only able to win because she played both fields.”

The group broke into giggles again at Clark’s less then subtle smear against the President, but Josh wasn’t so easily swayed.

“The character debate didn’t work for us the first time,” he insisted, “She’s a gay, single mother who’s the very definition of sensible moderate. Time’s passed, but that hasn’t changed.”

To Josh’s surprise, the crowd around him broke into hysterical laughter at his expense. As he tried to hide behind his top-shelf cocktail, Clark took pity on his old friend.

“Please excuse my friend, everyone,” he said as the group calmed to hear his words, “He’s been vacationing in Malta for the past two months.”

More dry laughter from the group as Josh’s ears piqued with interest. “What’s going on?”

“According to this morning’s press briefing…the President seems to have found herself a girlfriend.” Clark said with a devilish grin.

-           -           -

The Danvers sisters had all three of their apartment windows thrown open despite the odd cold front blowing through the capital. While it may have been in the low 40s outside, their little apartment was in the upper 90s with the wood oven running full-time. It was one of the busiest nights for politics in Washington and the DiNublia family always made a killing in deliveries to the capital and White House. It certainly helped when you had a Secret Service agent willing to wave the delivery boy past the MRI scanner to ensure the pizzas were still warm. It was finally the State of the Union and both women were busy trying to protect their hair and make-up from the blazing inferno.

“Have you seen the my straightener?” Alex called from the tiny bathroom, but got no response, “Kara?”

She left the bath to find her little sister anxiously pacing in the five feet of space that served as both their foyer and living room.

“Hey,” she said and grabbed at Kara’s arm to slow her down before leading them to the couch, “are you worried about tonight or about your feature finally being published?”

“Um…uh, neither?” Kara’s eyes were darting about the room and Alex was honestly worried that she might pull her hair out after spending an hour fussing with it earlier. She threw her sister a pillow to pick at and hug to calm her down. “I think I might be getting into trouble.”

“What happened?” Alex asked with a serious tone. “I read your piece and it was amazing. Did Snapper reject it or something?”

“No, that’s not it, I—I…I kissed Lena.”

That certainly got Alex’s attention.

“You kissed her.”

“Yes.”

“On the mouth.”

“Yes.” Kara continued to stare daggers at her pillow in an attempt to hide from her sister’s wrath…or dirty jokes. It was always fifty-fifty with the elder Danvers.

“Richard didn’t tell me that.”

“He wanted to win the bet.” Kara muttered.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean ‘yeah’?!” Kara finally looked up and started beating Alex over the shoulder with her pillow. “I can’t believe you started a betting pool on when I’d kiss the President!!”

“Ow, hey! Wait a minute! First of all, it was Maggie’s idea, I just happened to be the first participant. Second of all… no, now I’m afraid to say it.”

“Alex!”

“You might hit me again!”

“I’ll hit you if you _don’t_ tell me.”

“Fine! I’m not in a betting pool for kissing,” Alex announced to her dumbfounded face. Kara’s head tilted to the side like a puppy as she tried to decipher the meaning before her sister finally took pity on her, “I’m in a betting pool on staying the night.”

“ _Alex_!” Kara shrieked and started hitting her with the pillow again.

“Stop that!” Alex said and finally took the pillow from her. “Where did you kiss her?”

“In the Vermeil room.” She whispered.

“Then what happened?”

“Then…then s-she attacked an embassy!”

“Okay, I highly doubt you kissing her led directly to the embassy thing, but—”

“I’ve got to nip this in the bud, Alex,” Kara was getting that wild look in her eye again and she stood to resume her pacing. “This has catastrophe written all over it.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Alex called, “In what universe does this seem like a bad idea to you?”

Kara stopped her movements to turn and face Alex properly as her sister truly lost her patience with her for the first time years.

“Lena is an amazing person. She’s highly educated, she loves her son more than almost anything else in the world, she’s a world leader, she’s one of the most honorable and reverent people I know, she’s funny, she’s gorgeous, and she’s hilarious to talk to—I mean, come on!”

“Why don’t _you_ date her then?” Kara challenged.

“Don’t change the subject,” Alex accused with a pointed finger, “My entire point is that you’re blowing this whole thing because you’re scared of god even knows what at this point!” she shouted waving her arms in the air. “Maggie and I were fucking engaged in six months.”

“You guys are different!” Kara pleaded, “You were practically made for each other and there was nothing standing in the way of you being together.”

“ _You were the one standing in the way!_ ” Alex shouted, but immediately regretted saying it. She had about three seconds before Kara either burst into tears or bolted from the entire tri-state area. “I’m sorry, that… that probably needs some explanation.”

“…Alex.” Kara sounded on the verge of tears already.

“Breathe, Kara,” Alex took a cautious step towards her sister and slowly reached out to rub her arms in a—hopefully—reassuring manner. “Remember right after I got married, you and mom called a lot?”

Kara nodded, “And then you told me to stop.”

“Yeah, that was poorly executed,” Alex admitted, “but I was actually going through a lot of stuff at the time. I was remembering the shooting at L-Corp, dealing with Conner starting public school, and then you two.”

A light bulb finally turned on in Kara’s head before she looked her sister over with those sad doe eyes. “Oh, Alex, we kept asking and joking about kids, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” Alex took a deep breath remembering that month from hell, “And it cause _a lot_ of friction between Maggie and I, but we got through it—well, that and a fuck-ton of other shit—but it was fine… The point I was trying to make was that once I found her I didn’t go running in the opposite direction—and I sure as shit didn’t let some scrawny half-pint blonde stand in our way.”

Alex grabbed Kara's hand to hold in what she hoped to god was a reassuring manner. Two hours before the state of the union and the night before her sister's journalism debut was definitely not the time or place for a painful trip down memory lane. Luckily, Kara took the hint and decided use it to her advantage by steering the conversation elsewhere.

“That’s not fair, I’m taller than you!”

“Don't change the subject! You have to fight for these things. Fight fair, fight dirty, I don’t care, just fight! And you’ll have to fight much bigger fish so now’s the time to decide if you’re gonna nut-up or shut-up.”

“Alex…that was really, quite moving,” Kara said in awe.

“Thank you.”

“Well, right up until the end there.” she said with a smirk. Sappy or not, at least her sister was back after that near train wreck.

“All right, that’s enough out of you,” Alex said as she stomped back to the bathroom to finish her hair. “Get your shit together so we can leave. I feel like I’m going to melt in this sauna.”


	53. Chapter 53

The lights in oval office had been dimmed considerably as the President waited for her replacement by the resolute desk. Although most administrations favored the secretary of agriculture for their designated survivor, Lena didn’t want to leave her country in the hands of someone so close to the bottom of the food chain. Not that she had anything against Sally and her many PhD's, but Lena preferred more of a ‘jack of all trades.’ Enter Mr. Anthony Ruggeri, secretary of the treasury, whose first priority would be stabilizing the economy if shit truly hit the fan.

“Madam President,” he said walking into the room, “we must stop meeting like this.”

“Yes, people might begin to talk,” Lena continued the joke.

“You’ll be painted as quite the temptress should that occur. I hear there might be one suitor already vying for your attention.”

They shared a laugh at the President’s expense before getting back to the task at hand. While the designated survivor had never actually been called into action during the country’s history, the protocol for passing off the black bag and instituting code-word clearance had to be followed exactly before the President left Tony to his own devices in the oval. A mere two hours later and he was settled on the couch while the President packed her satchel for the journey to the capitol.

Lena paused on her way out of the office and turned back to him. “Tony, if the worst should happen...”

“Madam President, this is only our _fourth_ time going through this, but please continue.” He chuckled.

“They’re going to take you down to the situation room, there’s a man there named Jethro, listen to him and do what he says.”

“Yes, Madam President.”

“I know this will be the last thing on your mind, but Conner’s paperwork—”

“Is in the left top drawer of the resolute desk. He will legally be Jess’ son until Alex is able to sign the adoption papers.”

Lena let out a massive sigh of relief and gripped the strap of her bag a bit tighter.

“I won’t let him out of my sight until they personally come to collect him, Madam President.” Tony gave a bit of a half smile like a cat who caught the canary before continuing. “I actually had the secret service modify their route so Conner is priority one. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Thank you, Tony.”

“Always, Ma’am.” He turned his attention back to the ipad set-up on the coffee table to watch the state of the union address. “I serve at the pleasure of the President.”

Lena gave the man one last glance before turning on her heel and leaving the room. It was difficult for her to imagine how so many people could want to protect her and her unique little family. Despite all of the media attention, the focus on her running mate, the concern of a few billionaires put in charge of running the country, it always took Lena by surprise how the nation continued looking to her. It certainly took a little convincing, but somehow they managed to prove to the American public that absolute power couldn’t corrupt everything.

-           -           -

“James.”

He heard her calling to him, but just couldn’t look away from the screen just yet. President Lena Luthor was just about to wrap up her first ten-minute section and this was _not_ the time to indulge the blonde reporter. The first ten minutes would make or break tonight's proceedings after Lena's little dinner dates got leaked earlier than expected.

“Jaaaames.”

The playful sing-song tone of her voice finally grabbed his attention from the TV screen.

“James, what’s with the lines on the screen?” Kara finally asked when she had his attention for a consecutive three seconds.

“The higher the number, the more the voters like what’s being said. They’re randomly selected from all over the country and control a set of dials based on their voting preferences.”

He glanced back at the screen trying to maintain his train of thought and listen in on his work at the same time. It didn’t go over too well, but he hoped Kara was used to interviewing distracted White House staff by now.

“Winn likes to paint a fairly cohesive picture of the country so he’ll be burning the midnight oil working phone banks across all major time zones as the President’s speech is aired all over the country—he _insists_ on calling Hawaii and Alaska, though I don’t know why.”

“What do the colors mean?” she asked being sure to take careful notes as James spouted off disjointed facts and figures.

“Purple are 20s-40s, green for 40s-60s, and black for anyone over 60.” He pointed out each line to her and swiped through a few live graphs on his ipad. “The yellow ones are teenagers—16 to 20 year olds—it’s a new thing Winn is trying. Getting a picture of what the future electorate might be interested in.”

“What’s considered a good average for the lines?”

“Maybe 45 across the board.”

“Anything bigger than that is considered a spike?”

“Look at you picking up the lingo.” He joked. “You’re usually lucky if any _one_ of the lines break 65.”

They both turned to look at the screen. While Kara was witnessing the speech for the first time, James was practically reciting each line to himself as he mentally analyzed the live graphs superimposed on the screen. This was Lena Luthor in her natural habitat; standing tall and quite imposing given her five-foot frame and delicate features. They were almost at the first blip.

“…against every challenge, people of great works and greater possibilities who have always, _always_ found the wisdom and strength to come together as one nation…”

Although she had been governor for a while before James came onto the scene, she always seemed completely down to earth and personable with her minuscule town hall speeches. Once he saw her completely decimate an obnoxious (former) business partner in a board meeting, he absolutely demanded that she treat each and every speech and press conference like a powerhouse CEO; and boy, did she ever deliver. Lena Luthor behind a podium, at a press conference, or on a stage was absolutely lethal.

“How much of this did you write?” Kara asked.

James responded without taking his eyes from the screen, “It’s a team effort.”

“What if I asked your staff?”

“They’d say I wrote all of it.”

“Did you?” He could feel her eyes on him, but he shrugged her off nonetheless.

“We don’t like to brag around here. We let the group achievements stand for themselves.”

“The lines don’t seem to be doing very much.” She pointed out.

“Speeches this long have constructed moments of boredom. You need to build a section of steady rhythm and timbre right before a powerful statement—like here.”

He pointed to the screen as the dials slowly began their ascent to the top of the screen in time with Lena’s cadence.

“…to widen the circle of opportunity, to deepen the meaning of our freedom, to form that more perfect union. Our best days lie ahead, and I can say tonight, without a single reservation: “the state of our union _is strong_!”

A wave of cheering and applause could be heard through the speakers, a standing ovation that forced the President to pause and bask in the admiration of her people. Thirty seconds later and she was still trying to calm the audience to continue her speech.

“Now that’s a blip on the radar!” Kara exclaimed once her eyes readjusted to focus on the colored graph. “You broke 60 on all the lines, even the teenagers.”

“We had a bigger one in yesterday's draft.”

“What happened?”

“It got cut during lunch,” James shrugged, “The speech is sort of alive and it took us in a different direction at the last minute.”

They resumed watching the speech in companionable silence as Kara began drafting her latest article. With James as her subject, the sate of the union speech became an entirely new experience. From moments when James would not even bother looking at the screen during a built in ‘brain break’ to correct some analysis in her article to moments when he was nearly throwing the nearest object at the screen when a section didn’t spike as big as he had planned. If she didn’t know better, Kara would’ve sworn he was watching the biggest sports game of the year.


	54. Chapter 54

The east room of the White House was filled to the brim with Washington’s best and brightest eating, drinking, and causing intellectual discussion and casual laughter to fill the space in a dull roar. The live orchestra at the back corner contributed a welcome melody to prevent any headaches caused by the numerous debates and an overabundance of wine.

James and Kara had just finished their interview and were making their way over to the food table when Maggie practically ran into them.

“Congratulations, James. That was one of your best.” She almost squealed before jumping into his arms for a bear hug.

“Thank you, but there’s always room to grow.” He smiled sadly.

“So far so good.” She punched his arm to get his attention before any bad thoughts could worm their way into his mind. “The dials looked good, so be proud!”

She gave him one last knowing look, pleading with her eyes that he would just take the win and move on to the next battle, before twirling away to the open bar.

Kara watched James’ face as he struggled to keep his smile in place. “Tell me about the part that got cut.”

“There’s nothing to tell.” He said and started filling a mini plate, “It got cut.”

“How does that work?”

“How does _what_ work?” Kara could see she was beginning to succeed in distracting him from the eventual polling data of tonight’s speech.

“Deciding what she’s gonna say. How do you do it?”

“You mean how do we write the state of the Union?” he asked with a furrowed brow.

“Yeah.”

James took a second to look at Kara’s lopsided smile and smudged glasses. She seemed so happy tonight, in a lovely dress, surrounded by friends and potential stories… and here he was Mr. Gloom and Doom all because the speech he spent weeks working on was a solid A- instead of the earth-shattering one he had planned. Maggie has _got_ to stop being right all the time or he would simply have to quit.

“It’s a long story, but the process begins about 6 weeks before. We go to budget meetings, the President weighs in, memos from outside notables—

“Like former presidents?”

“Yeah.” They slowly made their way to a tall empty table in the back near the bar. “Anyway, we get memos and draft some things. The president reads it, decided she hates everything, and we rewrite it. We try to think about what the public wants to hear.”

“If you’re just telling us what we want to hear isn’t it just a big sham?”

“No, we have data coming out of our ears about what we’ve handled well and poorly over the year, but it’s difficult to figure out what the people _want us to do_ , let alone say. The American public is trying to talk to us, but it’s loud and disconnected and we don’t want to miss anything.”

“So you prefer numbers because they can’t lie?”

“Winn’s favorite expressions is ‘numbers lie all the time,’ but that’s why we _have_ someone like Winn on our side to help translate.”

“I’m a little lost,” she said with a sheepish grin as she plopped a pot sticker in her mouth.

“Okay… Let’s say we poll 500 people in this room. About two thirds would say you and Lena make a great couple.”

He paused a little to smile at Kara’s adorable blush. The woman was way too easy to rile up and embarrass, a complete opposite from Lena’s cold extrioir. No wonder they worked so well together.

“But we also know that 400 of the same people would be ecstatic if there was another a sex scandal in the oval.”

“Can we get back to the speech, please?” Kara asked before taking a big gulp of her wine.

“I’m just saying keep it to the residences until we make it public, okay?” James thought the blonde was going to burst into flames at his wink with the way her face heated up.

She focused her gaze on her plate and mumbled, “There’s nothing to keep.”

“You should fix that, you know.”

“So!” Kara said in a solid attempt at changing the subject, “How do you even start writing something like this?”

“We do whatever it takes to get something on paper. We find new themes, hear new slogans, test new lines and keep piecing it together.”

“It sounds difficult.”

“Yes, well… it’s difficult under the best circumstances. Obviously it got a little more difficult a week ago.”

“What happened a week ago?” she asked, but got the message at James’ pointed look. “ _I_ happened.”

“Yes, you certainly did.”

James was about to continue explaining the intricacies of speech writing to Kara when he spotted Winn making his way quickly across the room to the food table.

“Excuse me for a moment,” he said before heading over to him.

As soon as he was in Winn’s eyesight, the man interrupted his conversation with Maggie to cut James down at the knees.

“I don’t have anything for you,” he said.

“If you didn’t have anything you wouldn’t be at the party.” James pointed out.

“I got hungry!” cried an indignant Winn.

“Winn, give the man something to work with,” Maggie said, “he’s the only one _not_ enjoying the party.”

“Fine, but I only I have the first half hour.”

“And…?”

“Uh… You don’t want the first half hour.” Winn said with a shake of his head.

“Why doesn’t he want the first half hour?” Maggie asked.

“Just tell me, Winn.” James nearly begged.

Winn let out a deep sigh and began reciting the last numbers he pulled. “Low thirties across the board.”

Had James not been standing the a room full of reporters and capitol elites, he probably would’ve throttled the man.

“Wait for the rest of the dials!” Winn called before turning tail and running back to his cave.

-           -           -

On the opposite side of the east room, Lena wasn’t fairing much better with the woman of the hour. She had just gotten word from Rhea that the spotlight feature had been given the green light and was due to be published first thing Monday morning. She made her way across the dance floor to intercept the President after her latest turn about the room before another person asked her to dance.

“You look beautiful!” Lena exclaimed once she caught sight of her worried secretary.

“Thank you, Ma’am, and so do you.” She tried to subtly drag her boss over to a less crowded area to tell her the news. “I need to speak with you for a moment.”

“This can’t possibly be good news.” Lena’s face immediately turned to battle mode anticipating a world disaster.

“It’s certainly not the worst news I’ve delivered, so don’t be worried.” When Lena relaxed, she decided to just rip the bandage off and go for it. “Ms. Danvers’ spotlight feature is going out to print Monday morning.”

Jess couldn’t actually identify the range of emotions that flew across the President’s face at the news. There was certainly shock—they didn’t even know Kara had written a draft, let alone the entire piece—but there was alos an odd mixture of pride, resignation, and fear in her glossed eyes.

“…Jess?” she finally said.

“Yes, Ma’am?”

Lena turned to he with a sly smile before saying, “Let’s get drunk.”

That certainly took the secretary off guard.

“Um… okay. Drinks table is—”

But the President was already flying past her towards the open bar where Maggie and James were talking.

“Maggie!” Lena grabbed the press secretary’s attention in an instant with her unusually high-pitched voice. Jess mentally added ‘nervous’ to her list of emotions.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“I’m planning on doing something very stupid tonight,” the President said all the while reaching over to grab a few unopened bottles of wine for them, “so Jess is going to get me drunk and I wanna make it a girl’s night, let’s go.”

With nothing more to be said, Lena turned and hastened to the red room down the hall. Maggie set her drink on the table and grabbed a bottle for herself in preparation before being momentarily stopped by James.

“You’re actually going?”

“The President of the United States, arguably one of the most powerful—if not _the_ most powerful person on earth just asked me to get wine drunk with her after a state of the union that—for reasons _passing understanding_ —you are not pleased with. Are you really questioning me right now?”

“Can I run away too?” he pleaded.

“What part of ‘girls night’ did you miss? Go back to your interview.” Maggie scoffed as she exited the east room in hot pursuit.


	55. Chapter 55

“Here we are, ladies. Far from the troubles of the world.”

Lena dumped her bottles of wine on the coffee table before digging through a nearby cabinet for yet another bottle of wine. Maggie simply handed her bottle to Jess before laying across one of the four couches in the sitting room.

“Luckily I lifted a bottle opener from one of the servers on the way over here.” Jess said as she examined the complicated contraption in her hand.

“The wine is a ’96 Argentinian Malbec from the Bodega Catena Zapata vineyard, which once belonged to the President of Argentina.” Lena said before lounging on her own couch. “It is best sipped while making anagrams out of the phrase ‘the press can kiss my ass.’ ”

“This is an excellent corkscrew, just look at all the fancy trimmings on this thing.” Jess said.

“Shall we deconstruct that particular phrase, Madam President?” Maggie teased over Jess’ head.

“No,” Lena said with a pointed look.

Jess had just failed in her third attempt to open a single bottle of wine and then, “Ah ha!”

“Did you finally open it?” Maggie asked with excitement.

“Nope, it’s in the bottle.”

“This is why I prefer scotch.” Lena drawled and pointed Jess in the direction of the cabinet where she found a second corkscrew and a decanter.

“Now it’s a party.” Maggie laughed at their motley crew.

A knock at the door caused all pairs of eyes to turn like teenagers caught with a joint in their father’s study… not that Maggie would have any firsthand knowledge of that particular feeling.

“Excuse me…” Winn said from the doorway.

“Oh, hey Winn,” the President called.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am,” he stuttered, “I was just heading back to the party, but heard some noise.”

“I didn’t know we were being that loud,” she commented as Maggie snorted into her wine, “Hey, where have you been all night anyway?”

“I’ve been running over some last-minute polling data James and Cat—well, mostly James because he’s terrified about messing up your speech.”

“I don’t think he’ll have to worry about it after tonight,” Lena smirked, “Why don’t you stay and have some wine with us?”

“Really?” Winn’s ears perked up at the invitation.

“Yeah.”

“That’s really nice of you.”

“Come get yourself a bottle—glass, I meant glass,” Maggie said from her couch.

“Okay, but there’s no chance you’re gonna tell me what you’re planning for tonight, is there?” he asked Lena.

“Not a chance in hell, dear,” she said with a smirk as the girls broke into ruckus laughter around her.

Nearly an hour later and Winn was suddenly regretting accepting the ladies’ invitation to girl’s night. Being the only mildly-sober one in the room was never the best of fun for anyone.

“This is a good bottle of wine,” Maggie slurred, “It’s almost made me forget how much cork I swallowed from the first bottle.”

Winn took the initiative to subtly remove refill her glass with the water he had a few stewards sneak in.

“I don’t understand, it was a good corkscrew, graphite…” Jess said to herself.

Lena reclined completely on the couch and threw her arm over her eyes, “Jess?”

“Stop talking about the damn corkscrew?”

“Yes, please.”

Winn took the opportunity of a mildly drunk President to press his luck.

“Madam President, can I ask you something that’s possibly going to make you hate me?”

“I’m three glasses in so go for it.” She said and sat up to face him.

“Why are you stalling with Ms. Danvers?”

“Excuse me?” Winn was beginning to regret accepting this invitation more ever second.

“It’s just that… I remember when you dated at L-Corp a-and you would never take the backseat like this.”

“I thought it was unbecoming of a woman in my position to take the lead in a relationship with someone who might feel intimidated by her surroundings.”

Maggie burst into a fit of giggles next to him.

“What’s your problem?” Lena stared her down.

“That depends,” Maggie sat up to face her boss’ glare head-on, “Are you the President right now?”

“What are you on about?”

This was starting to look like one of those legendary showdowns between the two that Winn had only heard rumors about. Rumors of late night chess games, disappearing bottles of Irish whiskey, and midnight McDonald’s runs…okay, that last one was definitely made up by legal.

“It’s fine if you want to talk,” Maggie continued, “but sometimes you’re ‘just Lena’ and sometimes you’re not.”

“I’m ‘just Lena’ right now.”

“Then there’s no way in hell what you said about intimidating Kara was true. That woman came to the White House, mouthed off to the Senator of California, dragged your name through the mud—and that was all in her second day on the job, mind you. Not to mention that she grew up with Alex ‘kick ass and take names’ Danvers. Do you honestly think she would be the least bit intimidated by anything you did?”

“Okay, I’m the President again.” Lena said through gritted teeth and Maggie immediately resumed her lounging position next to Winn. Apparently she still hadn’t noticed that her glass of wine was actually just a glass of water.

“Fine,” Maggie conceded.

“It’s not like you haven’t _already_ started moving this relationship along," Jess pointed out, "I mean, how often do you allow a stranger to join you and Conner for family dinner?”

“That’s not the point.” Lena countered.

“Then what _is_ the point because I’m starting to think there actually isn’t one.”

“I’m a servant to the public and they hold certain beliefs about what a president should and should not be doing in their free time.”

“For crying out loud, Lena, you were also a public servant when you shot your mother in the head and didn’t tell anyone Conner was 70% your clone.”

Winn immediately regretted the words in the uncomfortable silence that permeated the room. He glanced around the group and saw everyone was doing their best t avoid eye contact with anyone, let alone him.

“Oh, my god.” He managed after a beat, “You switched back to the President.”

“That’s all right, Winn.” Lena said as she polished off her glass. “You’re not wrong.”

“I’m so sorry, Madam President.”

“It’s perfectly fine, Winn. Please don’t beat yourself up over it.” She said with a reassuring smile.

“You and all of your staff from the governor’s office went through that trial and censure standing tall, Lena.” Maggie said, “I was very proud to have voted for you that day.”

“Me too, Ma’am,” said Jess.

“Thanks, guys.” Lena stood from the couch with a bit of a shadow hanging over her brow, “Let’s get back to the party before they realize I’ve been playing hooky the entire time.”


	56. Chapter 56

_Roughly Three Years Ago..._

The basement hallway of the capitol building was a quite and somber place even on its busiest of days. In the dead of night it was down right spooky how the air seemed to move only after you’ve pushed through its space. This wasn’t the creepiest place she’d ever been asked to meet with opposing consul, but it definitely broke the top five. She sounds of their heels echoed through the chamber as the approached a lone door at the end of the hall flanked by two still and unblinking guards. She held the door open for Cat and followed her inside to find Lucy Lane and her assistant waiting for them on the opposite side of the conference table.

“Good evening.” Lucy said.

“Good evening, Ms. Lane.” Maggie replied with a bit of bite to her words. “What are the police doing outside?”

Lucy obviously didn’t appreciate the sarcasm so early in their meeting. Tough shit for her. “I don’t know exactly, but I’d hazard a guess that they’re simply doing their job.”

“We’re only here because you want to put a deal on the table, so I’d prefer not being intimidated by the armed guards standing outside the door.”

Cat finally put her phone away to tune into their meeting saying, “I’m not that easily intimidated.”

“I might be.” Maggie whispered.

“I believe the Chairman put them there to ensure our privacy.” Lucy rolled her eyes.

“Go tell them to wait somewhere else.” Maggie instructed.

She could see the wheels turning in Lane’s head trying to gauge if making a cutting remark about their failed relationship would help her case or not. After a brief stare down, the lawyer stalked to the door and left for a few moments before returning to her side of the table.

“They’ve agreed to move to the next door.”

“Lucy—

“What do you want me to do, Mags, fight them?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Other than you two reliving your sexcapades, what the hell are we doing here?” Cat barked at the two.

“Ms. Grant,” Lucy began, “just so you know, this entire conversation is off the record.”

“Thank god. I wouldn’t want the world to know I sat here discussing rent-a-cops for an hour.” Maggie couldn’t help but smirk at Cat’s remark, score one for team Luthor.

“You are aware of where Agent Danvers’ testimony was about to go?”

“Yes.”

“The majority is willing to end the hearings right now.” Lucy said while placing both hands on the table. Maggie knew that move. That was Lane’s ‘this is all I got and I’m fucking tired of fighting so I’ll just do the damn dishes’ pose. All right, so that’s obviously not what was happening here, but the sentiment was still the same.

“End Agent Danvers’ testimony?”

“The whole thing will be called off.”

Cat’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want, dear?”

“House Resolution 237.”

“You want to censure the President of the United States.” Maggie scoffed

“A resolution condemning the President for lying to—”

“I highly doubt lying by omission counts in this instance.” Cat interjected.

“—condemning the President for lying to the American people during her campaign.”

“How is it the President’s fault if no one asked her the right questions?”

Cat had a good point, but Maggie was more concerned with the manner in which Lucy was conducting this dark-ally affair. “And why aren’t you talking to the President about this deal?”

“I’m not stupid enough to risk the wrath of President Luthor so quickly after she single-handedly demolished and rebuilt CPS. I’m not stupid, Maggie. If they continue these ridiculous hearings, it’ll blow up in our faces. We’d seem callous and unfeeling, a direct contrast to the president’s extraordinary gesture of courage and patriotism by stepping down from the position only a month ago.”

“But she turned in the second letter two weeks ago.” Maggie said.

“That doesn’t discount her prior actions.”

“You are a smart girl.” Cat said with a glint of respect in her eye.

“I have my moments.” She replied with a tit of the head.

“Okay.” Cat took a deep breath before letting loose, “Now that this has all been sorted out, I’m just going to call the President and suggest that she allow the House of Representatives to call her a liar. Maybe I’ll propose to the Grand Duke of Luxembourg while I’m at it, he’s quite the catch for a lady my age.”

“Ms. Grant…” Lucy all but groaned in annoyance.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind? If you think Alex will ever let us take this deal to the President, you’ve greatly underestimated her. The only person to fear more in this world than the President of the United States is Alexandra Danvers. She knows at least 15 different ways to kill you without leaving a shred of forensic evidence nor breaking a sweat.” She paused a moment to let that sink in for the young lawyer. “Is that all you’ve got?”

“Yes.” Lane said while turning her gaze onto the table.

Cat nodded once before picking up her bag and leaving the room with nothing but a curt, “Good night.”

Maggie took a moment to look at Lucy and her blatantly defeated pose. Perhaps if she had been able to see beyond all their dumb arguments years ago they might’ve actually worked things out. There was no denying Lane was giving the White House everything she possibly could to sweeten the deal, and she was working with some unsavory characters who appeared hell-bent on destroying their own reputation. She was doing the best she could with the cards that had been placed in front of her and Cat acted just like Maggie had all those years ago. Guess it was never too late to learn from past mistakes and just do the dishes her damn self instead of fighting about it for days.

“Can you give us some time?”

“You have 24 hours exactly.” Lucy said through clenched teeth, but Maggie saw the flicker of hope in her eyes.


	57. Chapter 57

_Roughly Three Years Ago…_

Lena quietly sipped her coffee as senior staff more or less barreled through the door to the oval office. It was only seven in the morning, but her chief of staff was already ripping Maggie and James a new one.

“How did the meeting go?” she asked, the very picture of innocence.

“It was nothing important, Ma’am.” Cat responded, “Nothing to even bother you with.”

Lena took another sip of her coffee before jumping right in with both feet. “Hmm, I’m thinking censure.”

“It’s never going to happen so don’t worry about it.” Cat snapped at her.

The room was silent as Cat realized she had just told off the President like a petulant child. Lena slowly raised a singular eyebrow as a slight challenge for her to continue, but her chief of staff didn’t rise to the bait.

“If you say so.” She hummed before brushing past them towards Jess’ office. If they were only here to drag her into their child-like antics, she was going to leave. So much for these daily senior staff meetings.

“I’ve got a budget meeting with the leaders of the child poverty fund. This conversation isn’t over, Cat.”

Maggie rounded on Cat again on they were in her office, “We need to talk.”

“Oh, no we don’t.” she said while slamming her binders onto her desk.

“I think we need to talk about the deal.” James said from his hiding spot in the corner.

“Why are you two even considering it?”

“Because I want this to be over and done with instead of trying to go through our remaining three years with this Albatross hanging from our necks.” Maggie pleaded.

Cat understood where they were coming from; a simple ‘ripping off the band-aid’ solution to this long and drawn out massacre of their administration in its infancy. Why not simply cut off the rot and move on before the talks of impeachment get serious?

“It’ll end the hearing, surely,” she said, “but it will put Lena Luthor in history as a President who was slightly less than incompetent.”

“A house censure is nothing, Cat,” Maggie argued, “It’s a press release without teeth.”

“I honestly couldn’t give a damn.” Cat snapped before unceremoniously kicking the pair out of her office.

They could not be stupid enough to think this was all going to blow over without a fight if they took this mockery of a deal.

Later that evening, her secretary passed along a note from the President requesting her presence in the residences on her way out of the building. She climbed the stairs expecting to be met with yet another crisis, but instead found Lena nursing a glass of wine on her favorite couch by the large bay window.

She wasn’t even in her forties yet and the woman spent her entire day piecing together a country that no longer had any reason to trust her. Running a media empire seemed like a walk in the park compared to what this girl went through on a daily basis. Not only did she have to fight for the right to speak among some of the foreign nationals she dealt with, but now—on her home turf—she was constantly under fire for simply doing what needed to be done.

“Madam President, you called for me?” she asked.

“Yes,” the President started a bit at the sudden addition before standing to pour Cat a glass of wine, “sorry about the summons. I tried to see you earlier, but Conner wanted to watch a movie together and I didn’t want to bother your work.”

“Madam President, my job description is to be bothered by whatever you need,” Cat joked.

“Nevertheless,” Lena took a deep breath, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“For what…? No.” Finally the pieces fell together in her mind and she had to actively remind herself not to break the stem of her wine glass.

“Yeah, I talked to the Chairman and Lucy Lane.” She nodded along with her words and resumed her position on the couch, “I took the deal.”

“Lena Luther, _you_ _did not_.”

“Cat, we were wrong!” She cried. “We fumbled this at the goal line and that’s just how things went down. I don’t know about you, but I certainly didn’t think the nation was ready for someone like me to be president.”

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Cat asked with indignation as she huffed into the space beside Lena.

“Come on, Cat, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” She paused for another sip of wine before setting down the glass and rounding on her mentor to count the ways.

“I’m the product of an adulterous affair with a branded traitor for a father and a step-mother who was quite literally a mad scientist. Single mother, unmarried, about as straight as macaroni, and now everyone knows my son is not just adopted, but also my clone.”

She drew a shaky breath as if this was the first time since the campaign ended that she allowed these thoughts to be vocalized.

“We weren’t supposed to make it past the primaries. We certainly didn’t have sinister intentions at the start, but there were plenty of opportunities to right the ship—to tell every sordid detail of my life. We rationalized our secrecy and we knew better. I was wrong to ask for their vote without giving them the facts. I was wrong and I’m to blame.”

Cat couldn’t fault her protégé for that logic. Whether she agreed with the logic or not was another matter entirely, but if Lena had been mentally beating herself up for the past six months of her presidency because of something so trivial…well, she supposed a house censure wasn’t the worst option in the world. Being the queen of a media empire lent her the knowledge necessary to know that the only positive way to spin that particular story would be _after_ they had been elected, when the trust of the public was still on shaky ground-unsure of their selection, but willing to hope and jump off the cliff with their new President.

They could do much worse if this was the lowest they would ever go in their first four years in office. How ironic that Cat needed Lena’s job approval numbers to plummet in the first year for the public to ever trust her at all. With Alex’s truly stunning performance—and the unplanned assist of the citizens of Metropolis, Winn was already beginning to see the public’s sliding support in their favor. Lena might only see herself in those negative terms, but Cat would make damn sure the American public saw a different picture, a vision that was already festering in the minds of millions of Americans across the country:

If the President was willing to step down to put her country before all else, if Lex was willing to surrender ownership of L-Corp, if Agent Danvers was willing to lay down her life a _second_ time, if Maggie was willing to step away from the podium and battle on the front lines, if the entire city of Metropolis literally stopped time to stand in solidarity… If they trusted Lena Luthor implicitly, then why shouldn’t I?


	58. Chapter 58

Lex saw the gaggle of women returning from their impromptu ladies night and quickly made to intercept them before they re-entered the party in the east room. It was rather odd for his sister to return at all, let alone sporting such an ashen expression. As the others made their way into the onslaught of friends and co-workers, he pulled Lena aside for some privacy.

“Hey,” he asked leading her away, “what’s wrong?”

She waved off his concern, “In vino veritas, that’s all. Have you seen Cat anywhere?”

“Thinking of doing something scandalous?” he teased and immediately noticed the woman’s shifted eyes and small gulp at having been caught. “She walked out shortly after you three so I’m assuming she’s already aware of what you’ve got in mind or she doesn’t want to be available for you to ask permission.”

“Lex, I—”

“Hold on.” He stopped her with a raised hand. “I’ve been waiting to tell you, but I’ve chickened out at least three times now.”

He took a deep breath before the words poured out of him in a rush, “I called Kara’s boss, Supper or something? I know I shouldn’t have, but I’m not sorry. There isn’t a single person on our team who wouldn’t have done the same thing. He’s considering not running the piece until we’ve had a chance to look over it.”

Lex watched as Lena’s eyes cleared significantly and he hoped she wasn’t half as drunk as he originally thought.

“I want him to run the piece,” she said, “I’m gonna ask her to be my girlfriend—as silly as that sounds coming from a woman my age.”

“No, don’t belittle this. I think it’s a perfect title: ‘The First Girlfriend.’”

“She’s not my first girlfriend, Lex.” The President said with a shy smile.

“Yeah, we’re gonna have to work on a title for her.” Lex couldn’t help the lopsided grin from spreading all over his face. “Okay, I’m going to do a toast and everything in a minute, and I’ll tell the dumb story about you kicking my ass in chess, but I wanted to say that your speech was amazing and I’m so very _proud_ to call you my sister and I love you dearly.”

“Aww,” she preened sarcastically, “I love you too, Alexander.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I think I will,” she giggled, “It is my birthday after all.”

“Whatever, Elena.” He spat before turning back to the doorway. He could still hear her snide comments behind his back as he strode through the room and up to the stage, chucking all the while.

-           -           -

Kara and James sat in silence at the sitting table in the absolute back of the east room. Lex’s speech was jilted and so terrible it was funny, but they just couldn’t bring themselves to listen. James was nursing his third whiskey sour for the evening and Kara was doing her best _not_ to try and cheer him up—easier said than done when your name is Kara Danvers.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a slightly disheveled Winn and his ever-present omniscient tablet. Kara was surprised James hadn’t noticed the new addition to their table, but with his current state, she was fairly certain a bomb wouldn’t have roused him.

“It’s just as we predicted.” Winn started to tell her, “Something happened after the first half hour.”

“What?”

“They remembered why they liked her—in spite of all the nonsense this week. We asked a mixed group of nearly 10,000 voters identical questions two days ago and then one hour ago. Two days ago about 40% said she was able to handle the position, 20% said she was trustworthy, and only 30% said she was a strong leader.”

Kara was beginning to regret not forcing James into this conversation so she’d have a translator. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Oh, no, it’s abysmal. But today those numbers are much better.” Winn said with a grin, “Over 60% said she could handle the job, 65% think she’s trustworthy, and over 75% say she’s a strong leader.”

“All of that just from a speech?” Kara nearly shrieked, “The numbers practically doubled!”

“It’s not just a speech, Kara.” James finally decided to rejoin the land of the living after Winn’s amazing news, “Words—speeches—get registered in the brain the same as music. They have rhythm, pitch, tone, and volume. And you need to match the instrument to the talents of the player or it’ll come apart at the seams. Real speeches have the ability to move us and lift us up in ways that literal meaning simply can’t. Do you see what I’m saying?”

Kara had no idea what he was saying.

“Yes, you’re an oratorical snob.” Winn said.

“You have to match the speech to the ability level of the speaker?” She asked to get some clarification.

James finally picked his head up from his hands and began to look like his normal self at the opportunity to discuss his passion once again—especially now that he wasn’t sulking.

“Lena Luthor is special when it comes to public speaking; she’s in a league of her own. A podium is hallowed ground—she makes it an extension of her body. She sees the State of the Union as a _genuine_ opportunity to change minds—despite all the research this one has shown her.” He jabbed a finger in Winn’s general direction. “Tonight’s speech got the job done, but—”

“Wait.” Kara cut him off, “‘Got the job done?’ Are you serious right now? That speech was amazing!”

“She’s right, James. There are maybe eight guys in the country that could write that speech.” Winn gave Kara a subtle glance before leaning into James to whisper, “and surely the ones to come.”

“Do you still have what you wrote? The section with the big spike?” Kara ignored Winn’s comment for now and pressed James to continue.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Can you read it to me.”

James pulled himself up to his full height in the chair and switched his body position ever so slightly. When he spoke, Kara could hear the minute accent slips that were typical of Lena’s speech patterns. The voice was deeper, but overall it was a near perfect match to Lena’s performance they watched on the television only hours before.

“Over the entire history of the world every absolute truth known today started as a blasphemy. And no one has ever made a contribution worthy of note without incredible self-sacrifice, personal suffering, and, when required, death. There’s story of an Irish man who went to the gates of heaven at his death and asked to be let in. St. Peter looked at him and said, “Show me your scars.” But the man had no scars to show. St Peter pitied him, “What a shame. Was there _nothing_ in your life worth fighting for?” My fondest wish for each and every one of our citizens is that we will find something in our lives worth fighting for, and when we do _all_ of humanity will have discovered fire for the second time.”

Kara and Winn were completely enchanted by the end of James’ little speech. He was right; after the shootings, after the retaliatory attack, after everything that’s been thrown onto the nation this past month, that would’ve been an amazing spike—truly a rousing call to arms… But after her dinners with the President and her son got leaked to the press, it would’ve seemed like nothing more than a smoke screen.

“That was amazing, James.” Kara finally breathed. “Would you let me use it in the article for tonight?”

“No…” he said shaking his head and giving her a soft smile, “I’m saving _that_ for the inauguration.”


	59. Chapter 59

It was midnight. It was midnight on a Saturday and here he was walking into the office like a junior reporter—wait, they rarely came into the office as it was… Well, he was at the office at an ungodly hour because _someone_ was on a power trip and he was about _this fucking close_ to throwing his laptop at the Chief of Staff.

As the elevator doors opened on the fortieth floor of the Daily Planet, Snapper Carr slowly strode around the cubicle islands until he could look through the glass walls of his office and spy the one and only Cat Grant lounging on his couch as if she owned the place. Her evening gown looked like liquid silk and it cast a dim glow about the room—quite the stark contrast to his own hastily thrown on day-old pants and shirt. He threw open the door and marched straight to his desk where he found a glass of bourbon waiting for him.

“You think some two-buck-chuck is gonna stop me from throwing you out of my office?”

“It’s Hudson Baby, Carr.” She said while lifting he own glass “Although I cannot understand why you of all people would like this syrup.”

Carr lifted the glass and took a deep breath; he could feel the sweetness coating the back of his throat, definitely Hudson… apparently Ms. Grant did her research.

“Why did you _summon_ me?” he spat and finally took his seat.

“I have some news for you.”

“I’m not delaying the Spotlight feature so you can comb over it.”

“Please,” she scoffed, “I couldn’t care less about that article.”

There was a moment of silence between the two as they nursed their drinks. He thought she was here to threaten him somehow like the Vice President very nearly did earlier this evening, but this was definitely a turn of events.

“I’m here to poach Kara Danvers.”

-           -           -

Kara had just finished changing into her pajamas for the evening after her exhausting evening at the White House party when the landline rang from the living room. She quickly got out of bed and stumbled through the dark apartment before managing to pick up the phone just before it turned over to voicemail.

“Kara Danvers.” She said nearly out of breath.

“Kara!” Came the _very_ over excited voice of the President.

“Ma’am?”

“Kaaar-ah,” Lena mused, “That’s such a pretty name.”

“Are you all right?” Kara asked with concern in her voice as she heard a clatter and shuffling from Lena’s end.

“I just think this is some trick zipper on this blasted dress.” She huffed and Kara heard another, louder, crash. “ _Damnú aír_!”

“What was that?”

“I, um… can’t get the dress off. I would ask Maggie to do it, but I don’t like her right now.” Kara could practically see the pout on Lena’s face. “ And I’d ask a steward—hell, I’d ask the secret service agent—but Maggie told them to go away…”

“Lena?”

“So I told _her_ to go away… meanie.”

Kara slumped down on the couch and dragged her fingers through her hair.

“Lena what’s wrong with you?”

Whatever Kara was expecting, ruckus laughter certainly wasn’t it.

“I’m _wasted_!” Lena called between giggles, “I’m completely hammered.”

“What?!”

“Okay, so here’s what happened…” Lena proceeded to loose herself in a fit of giggles. “We had some wine and then Lex gave a speech… I gave a speech earlier tonight, _ifreann na fola_ that thing was long! Remind me to fire James tomorrow morning—”

“Lena! Try to focus.”

“Right, that bit isn’t relevant—”

“Oh, my god.”

“So Maggie took me upstairs and tried to get me to call you like I had planned all night, but I got cold feet and—remember the censure? Well, that. And…and then Maggie opened a bottle of scotch and we drank, but I drank more because I’m scared of calling Kara. Oh! Do you know Kara Danvers?”

“This isn’t happening.” Kara lamented almost all of her life choices, any choice that could’ve led to being drunk-dialed by the President of the United States at midnight on a Saturday night.

“It’s fine, I’m sobering up already, Kara, that was a joke.”

Kara groaned into the phone and resigned herself to listening to the President talk herself into a drunken stupor over the phone. Suddenly there was a loud pounding on her door and a deep voice called her name through the door. She ran over to look through the peephole to find two secret service agents waiting for her outside the door with their IDs and badges held out for her inspection.

“Lena Luthor you did _not_ send some guys to collect me.” Kara whispered into the phone before unlocking the door for the agents.

“Maggie did that, I was trying to warn you about them,” Lena hiccupped.

“ _You could’ve led with that_!” Kara snapped before hanging up the phone.

“Ma’am,” one of the men said, “can you put some shoes on and come with us? Your presence has been requested at the White House.”

“The President is drunk, guys, can’t we just call it a night?” Kara begged them.

“We have strict orders from the deputy director to bring you to the White House.”

“ _Alex_ told you to bring me to the White House?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kara grabbed a pair of shoes by the door and slipped them on before grabbing her purse.

“I’m going to kill my sister.” She mumbled under her breath before leading the way out of her apartment.

-           -           -

“Absolutely not,” Carr said with authority, “Just because you like—or hate—whatever she’s written does not give you the right to take her and bury her in that dungeon of a White House basement.”

“Are you referring to the offices of the press or white house consul?” Cat teased, “Lawyers deserve to be in the basement, Lucas.”

“You can’t have her.” He growled.

“You know,” Cat began as she stood from the couch and started leafing through the various trinkets in Carr’s office, “I never understood how people could be so determined and set in their convictions without even seeing the bigger picture. It’s almost like watching a dog chase it’s tail—completely unaware that it’s a part of him until he bites down.”

Cat now sat like a queen in one of the leather chairs opposite Snapper’s desk. If it was any other woman on the planet, Carr might’ve assumed she was simply trying to goad him into killing the spotlight piece…but not Cat. She was the type of predator who only showed her hand when she knew she would win.

“You are not an omniscient god, Cat.”

“Which is rather sad for everyone, but if you knew what was happening right now on the other side of town you wouldn’t even bother trying to fight me on this.”

“Should I call in a team?” Carr was suddenly on high alert.

“No, but you _should_ give me Kara.” She smirked, “Especially since I’ve asked so nicely. I even brought you a gift: maple syrup in a bottle labeled ‘bourbon.’”

“What’s that girl getting herself into now?” Carr said while dragging his hand down the side of his face. Danvers was surely going to be the death of him. She’d produced nothing but garbage until she was in the White House working on the spotlight piece and suddenly every article she filed was top shelf. He might’ve thought she’d gotten a ghostwriter but for the copious amounts of spelling errors that could only come from Kara.

Cat’s sudden burst of laughter pulled him back to the present.

“Rather apt choice of words.”


	60. Chapter 60

Kara didn’t even wait for the secret service escort before marching upstairs and down the hall past Conner’s room and straight to the door of the master suit. One look at her face and the secret service agent guarding the door stepped out of the way for her to pound on the door with her fist

The door flew open and there was the President, still clad in her evening gown, holding a glass of water.

“Kara!” she said with surprise in her voice. Kara face-palmed and looked to the agent by the door.

“This never happened and you’re going to stand by the end of the hall over there, understand?”

“Y-yes, ma’am?” He glanced to the President for confirmation, clearly not enjoying taking orders from the irate blonde, but he moved down the hall nevertheless.

“I’m here because I have to be, but I do not appreciate being ordered around like some sort of call girl.”

“I completely understand, only I didn’t want you to come here at all.”

“Wait, what?” Kara took a step back as Lena chugged more of her water.

“I just wanted to ask you out for real now that the spotlight piece was being published, and Maggie dialed your number before she left.”

“And you didn’t ask an agent to bring me here?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous, why would I do that?” Lena’s eyes suddenly bulged as se realized what Kara was trying to tell her. “Oh god, we’ve been set up.”

“Yes, Madam President,” Kara sighed, “My sister and her girlfriend set us up for a drunken booty call.”

Lena nodded along with her words and seemed to zone out a bit before stabilizing herself on the doorframe.

“Are you all right?” Kara asked.

“Yes, just.. still a bit tipsy,” she frowned at her empty glass of water. “Sine you’re already here—”

“I will absolutely not!” Kara whispered with her eyes darting about the place.

“Kara, relax. I was only going to suggest you _sleep_ here for the night—it’s nearly one in the morning and both of us have to be up soon. There’s an empty guest room down the hall if you want to stay and get some sleep.”

Kara quickly weighed her options. Lena did have a point, if she were to leave now it would be another half-hour drive on top of waiting for sleep in her own bed—especially after this roller coaster. On the other hand, what better way to stick it to her sister than actually staying? There’s no way she actually expected Kara to spend the night with an intoxicated Lena. She looked back at the woman now clutching her head and leaning fully against the doorframe, she was in pretty bad shape and apparently would only get a few hours of rest tonight at best. There was no way she was ever going to think back fondly her next decision.

“Let me help you and then I’ll have Jason over there show me to the guest room,” Kara sighed and began shuffling Lena back into the room, “You look two steps from death right now.”

“Please,” Lena scoffed, “You should’ve seen Siobhan and I in Lebanon back in the day…”

-           -           -

“Danvers is having an affair with the President of the United States?” Carr deadpanned.

“‘Affair’ has such a nasty ring to it.” Cat waved her hand nonchalantly about as if pulling the correct term out of thin air. “I think we’ll go with ‘relationship’ for now.”

“You want the Daily Planet to call it a relationship? Fine.” He poured himself another two fingers of bourbon, “but you can’t have my reporter locked away.”

“She won’t be locked away, and the Daily Planet will still get exclusive articles from within the White House—they’ll just be released to all major networks after a brief two-hour window.”

“That’s not nearly enough time to publish.”

“Then invest in technology and post them online, Lucas, because I don’t give a damn.”

“What would you do with her in the White House anyway? Put her in charge of the coffee cart?”

“Special Assistant to the Deputy Director of Communications.”

Carr couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud at that one.

“Did you just make that up?” he took off his glasses and threw them across his desk with a heavy sigh.

“You can’t just buy everyone off, Cat.”

“Get some perspective, _Snapper_ ,” she said before standing to her full height and leaning against his desk with both hands, “I didn’t come here as the Chief of Staff, I came as a godmother who is sick and tired of watching Lena punish herself.”

Carr sat like a statue as Cat turned on her heel and strode towards the office door.

“I’d send a couple of guys to check the White House parking garage if I were you.” She called over her shoulder.

That certainly got his attention. He jumped up from his desk and rushed through the outer office to reach Cat just as she stepped into the elevator.

“Wait!” he called, “Why are you giving this to me?”

“Consider it a thank you gift for letting Kara Danvers resign tomorrow morning.” Cat said and pressed the ground floor button.

“But she hasn’t—”

“She will,” Cat chuckled, “and I’m fucking tired of the tension in the building. It’s driving me absolutely insane and—”

Cat continued growling to herself about lord-knows-what as the doors closed and he was left alone in the empty office. It took Carr all of three seconds of staring out the window at absolutely nothing before he picked up the nearest phone for an outside line.

“Rhea, get a team to the White House parking garage.”

“Christ. Do you know what time it is?”

“Just do it or I’ll call someone else.”

There was a heavy sigh and the sounds of shuffling on the line that indicated Rhea was already getting out of bed.

“What am I looking for?”

“You’ll know it when you see it.” Carr said before hanging up the phone.

-           -           -

Kara clutched the warm pillow tightly to her stomach in a futile attempt to stay warm. Mr. DiNublia must be getting a slow start to the morning if the wood oven wasn’t already blazing for the popular breakfast pies…but why was it so cold? Did the steam pipes finally bust? There wasn’t any street noise coming from her window either…and why was there hair in her mouth?

Kara’s eyes flew open in the realization that she most definitely _not_ in her bed, nor her apartment. She quickly calmed herself from jumping completely out of the bed when she realized the warm pillow she was clutching was decidedly _not_ a pillow, but rather a woman with jet back hair—oh god. She had slept with the President—wait, no, she was still clothed. False alarm, thank goodness, but she was still spooning the leader of the free world—a leader who was very warm and smelled of pine nettles and…spearmint toothpaste?

Kara slowly disentangled herself from the bed without waking her partner and performed a quick once-over of her surroundings. The windows showed a dark sky, but the stars had all but disappeared by now. A coffee table and sitting chairs by the fireplace showed subtle signs of frequented use; a jacket thrown over one, a purse resting in the corner of the other. This was definitely _not_ the guest room she was promised last night. She groaned as the events of last night finally caught up to her.

Being set-up by Alex and Maggie, arguing with a little-more-than tipsy Lena who couldn’t get out of her dress without help, and watching as the President strut about the room in lacy black lingerie looking for the drawer that held her pajamas.

_“Why did you take off the dress if you don’t know where your pajamas are?” Kara cried and locked her gaze on her shoes._

_“I’ve been in that dress for hours, and it really wasn’t all the comfortable to begin with.” Lena replied whilst pulling open random drawers without really looking through them._

_“Shouldn’t you know where your pajamas are?” Kara reasoned and followed behind rummaging through the drawers in Lena’s wake. Great, well, she found Lena’s stash of silk slips._

_“Here,” Kara said, throwing a pair of loose sweats in Lena’s general direction, “Just wear these for tonight.”_

_“Fine by me,” she sighed and, to Kara’s horror, immediately began removing whatever remained of her underwear._

_“Why am I looking away?” Kara mumbled to herself as she steadfastly faced the corner._

Then finally managing to wrestle Lena into the bed as she tore apart the bathroom looking for some aspirin.

She remembered hearing Lena’s quiet voice asking her to stay as she was nearly out the door. Almost as if she didn’t want Kara to have heard her immature request—and Kara almost ignored it. She almost walked right out of the room and down the hall to Jason… but she couldn’t. Instead she turned around, kicked off her shoes, and slid under the covers back to back with a sleeping President… who was a rather loud snorer, apparently.

She glanced back at Lena’s sleeping form before getting out of bed and making her way to the hallway.

The sight of Conner in his matching Superman pajamas, hand poised to open the door, nearly caused her soul to leave her body.

“Kara?” he asked with a confused tilt of his head.

“Uh, good morning, I think.” Kara managed.

“Is mommy still sleeping?”

Kara took in his sleepy eyes and the stuffed hulk clutched under his arm. The boy was probably half asleep and probably wouldn’t remember this anyway.

“Umm, yeah, did you need her for something?”

“I just wanted to snuggle.” He said while digging the toes of one foot into the plush carpet and Kara’s heart just about melted.

“I’m sure she’d love to snuggle, buddy, come on.” She opened the door and motioned for him to enter the room. The little boy immediately ran over to the bed and crawled into his mother’s arms without causing so much as a hitch in Lena’s breathing.

“Kara,” he whispered to her, “are you gonna stay and cuddle too?”

“I can’t this morning,” Kara whispered back, “But maybe some other time, okay?”

“Otay” he managed before his eyes sealed shut.

Kara immediately went to the closet and pulled out another pair of sweats to change into before heading to the guest bathroom across the hall to change and make herself presentable for the not quite walk of shame out of the White House.


	61. Chapter 61

The phone blaring to life beside her head panicked more than woke Lena that morning. She managed to get one arm free from the little monster burrowing further under the covers and away from the noise to pick up the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Madam President, I have a few people asking to be let upstairs.” Mike said.

“It’s four in the morning, Mike.” Lena said as her eyes finally focused on the clock, “I thought you weren’t going to bother me until five.”

“I think this is important, Ma’am.”

“Fine, send them up.” She said before hanging up the phone and slipping out of the bed. She went to grab her robe from the bath, but realized she didn’t need it if she was wearing sweats…why was she wearing sweats to sleep in?

Her questions were soon answered as none other then Kara Danvers walked into her bedroom clearly looking for her shoes. They froze in the middle of the room and Lena couldn’t help but laugh. There was Kara, wearing a matching set of Metropolis University sweats looking at her in the dim lighting as if she had just seen a ghost.

“Madam President,” she squeaked.

“Kara, what are you doing?” Lena couldn’t help but giggle at the image of Kara tiptoeing around the residences—as if there weren't at least five secret service agents constantly walking the halls.

“I-I, uh, I wanted to leave before the press got here at five.” She whispered and continued scanning the room for her shoes.

Lena walked to the opposite side of the bed and picked up the woman’s shoes before gesturing for Kara to follow her out to the hallway.

“So I just want you to be prepared for this next bit.” Lena said.

Suddenly the thunder of footsteps tearing up the stairs grabbed their attention.

“Good morning, Madam President.” James said.

“Morning,” Maggie chimed in from her place behind him. Kara caught sight of her sister bringing up the rear with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Morning, Kara.” Alex said.

“Good morning,” Lena said with the full gravitas of her position—surely it would have to do considering she was wearing nothing but sweat pants and an old top. “What’s happened?”

“The press is camped out at every exit,” James said as Cat finally joined them at the top of the stairs.

“How do they even know I’m here?” Kara said as her face paled considerably.

“Someone must’ve tipped them off.” Cat drawled but quickly shut her mouth at Lena’s cutting glare.

“Indeed,” she clipped.

“Since we’re all getting an early start to the day, shall we figure a way for Ms. Danvers to get home without being hounded by the press corps?” Cat continued.

“We need a diversion,” James said.

“A diversion?” Kara asked. What was this armature hour?

“We are _not_ creating a diversion.” Lena stated, “Kara will get home this morning in whatever way Alex sees fit, but we’re not going to bury this under a rug somewhere.”

She turned to face Kara as if she were the only one in the room and grabbed her hands.

“Don’t be surprised if they already know where you live, Kara. You know the press and can probably anticipate everything that’s going to come next, but I want to say two things. One, I’d really like to go out on a real date and not one where our friends maliciously set us up. And two, the White House will only answers questions about you if they’re relevant to the spotlight feature or any other articles published by Kara Danvers the reporter.”

“Our position is ‘no comment?’” Maggie asked.

“Yes,” Lena said turning to face the press secretary, “it’s personal and the press can deal with it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Ma’am,” James said.

“Then talk it over with Ms. matchmaker over there and figure it out.” Lena snapped. Cat had the decency to glance away and at least look remorseful. “Thank you.”

James, Maggie, and Cat quickly fled back down the stairs at the clear dismissal, but Alex stayed behind to prepare Kara for their departure.

“I’m gonna have you and Maggie switch clothes so we can get you home without a spectacle,” she said with a smile, “they won’t even know it’s you since I regularly take Maggie to and from work.”

“Thanks, Alex, but you still owe me,” Kara said.

“We’ll see,” she winked before taking her leave.

Kara turned to find Lena rubbing the sleep from her eyes and heading towards the nearest bench.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” she said casting her eyes to the ground, “being drunk, having our so-called friends ruin it, and just everything. This is not what I had in mind.”

“I’m not sorry.” Kara said as she sat beside the President. “Maybe they’re right and we needed the push… although I have to say drunk Lena is very odd and I’d rather not be in that position again for quite some time.”

“Oh god,” Lena said and buried her head in her hands, absolutely mortified, “I didn’t come on to you, did I?”

“Nope,” Kara reassured her, “But there was _a lot_ of Lena on display last night.”

“That certainly explains the lack of clothing.” She said and gestured to herself.

Kara nudged her shoulder, “Hey, we _should_ do this again, but, you know,” her cheeks flared up, “maybe better and without drinking our weight in scotch.”

“I’d like that.” Lena smiled at her joke. They were sitting so close that Lena could practically count her eyelashes and she could see the indentions where Kara’s teeth bit into her lip.

“You know,” Lena said, “I don’t think it's fair that you should leave empty handed.”

“Really?” Kara smirked while leaning in closer, “What did you have in mind?”

“Hmm… how about a pack of M&M’s?” Lena teased.

“I had something else in mind,” Kara breathed just before she closed the gap between them and placed the softest of kisses on Lena’s lips. The president clearly had other thoughts in mind as she deepened the kiss and drew her fingers through the blonde locks at the base of her neck. Kara had just reached up to cup her cheek when Alex’s whistle made her jump three feet in the air.

“Awfully quite up there, you two!” Alex called from the bottom of the stairs, “Let’s go! You can fuck each others brains out when there’s not hundreds of people waiting to park!”

That caused the women to laugh and they slowly parted ways as Kara headed for the stairs and Lena turned towards her bedroom.

“Kara!” Alex shouted again.

“All right, already!” Kara called back as she descended the stairs, “You want me to tell everyone how I walked in on you losing your V-card?”

“You know I’m your ride home, right?”

Lena could picture the sisters bickering like twenty-somethings all the way to the parking garage and she didn’t even bother hiding her smile as she stepped back into the room and under the covers where Conner was sound asleep and completely oblivious to the bustle below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry about the lack of updates. Life has exploded in the best possible ways and I don't think I'll be able to get back to writing until summer, but I definitely want to get back to it! Gotta focus on the here and now and my lovely girlfriend :P


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